TWO drunken burglars who cooked a live mouse in a microwave and beheaded a cat, are starting three year jail sentences.

Steven Browitt from Hindley and Andrew Maloney from Scholes - branded "wicked and malicious" by a judge - used a blunt axe to behead Greta, a blind 19-year-old tortoiseshell cat, during a burglary, Bolton Crown Court was told on Friday.

They left her severed head on a living room coffee table for her owner David Byrne to find when he returned home.

Browitt and Maloney, aged 35 and 26, then killed Mr Byrne's pet mouse Snowy by putting it in the microwave along with carrots and potatoes.

The pair also ransacked the house in the Scholes area of Wigan, broke windows and smeared food around the kitchen. They pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to cause criminal damage in connection with the incident last August.

Judge Gillian Ruaux said: "This was a wicked and malicious crime in which you showed a callous indifference to the suffering of the victim's animals and the suffering of the victim himself.

"The only view I can take is that Mr Byrne had been singled out for this attention. I don't know why."

The court was told that Browitt, who has been living in Hindley, and Maloney, formally of Higher Ince who now lives in Quarry Place, Scholes, had been drinking heavily.

They had known 48-year-old Mr Byrne for around 18 months but have never explained why they targeted him. He lived alone with his pet dog, cat and mouse and was at a friend's house at the time, the court heard.

Browitt and Maloney broke in through a rear window and vandalised the house before killing the animals. The court was told they were accompanied by two teenage girls, but one of the girls left in disgust when one of the men held the cat's severed head aloft.

After leaving Mr Byrne's house, they went to the house where he was sleeping and goaded him.

Prosecutor Sharon Amesu said: "Maloney said to Mr Byrne 'I've chopped your cat's head off'. The defendant Browitt then continued the conversation by saying 'Yeah, we've done your cat'.

"Mr Byrne did not believe what had been said until he was informed by his friend that police were at his home address. He went into his home, he found the premises ransacked and blood spattered across the kitchen area.

"He described finding the cat and said that he was distraught, upset, angry and in disbelief. He said his pets were his life and a big part of him had been taken away."

Browitt and Maloney both claimed they were too drunk to remember who killed the animals but accepted equal responsibility.

Det Con Richie Bennett, of Wigan CID, said: "What these people did was beyond belief. The fact that they were able to kill someone's pets without a second thought is something most normal people cannot understand."