A YOUNG mother broke down in tears as magistrates were told how she rescued a stray cat despite being subject to a five-year ban on keeping animals.

Monica Clancy Walsh was disqualified from keeping animals in March 2013 when two dogs were found abandoned in a rundown and fly-ridden property in Bradford.

She was handed a five-year ban and told to do unpaid work but failed to carry it out and was later handed a 12-week jail term.

Walsh was back in court yesterday for breaching the disqualification by taking in a cat which later had three kittens.

She told the RSPCA she began feeding the cat only after it had been scratching at her door for several days.

Walsh, 23, of Mossdale Avenue, off Haworth Road, Bradford, said she had believed the previous ban was for just 12 months.

Yesterday she admitted breaching the disqualification and was told to pay £370 in fines and costs.

Walsh told the court she was on Income Support and had a baby aged four weeks and a toddler aged 14 months.

Magistrates urged the defendant not to get involved with animals and to contact the RSPCA if she saw any strays.

They decided against extending the disqualification order.