British Lib Dem MP John Hemming’s wife sentenced

British Lib Dem MP John Hemming’s wife sentenced for kitten theft

The estranged wife of a British MP has been given a suspended jail sentence for stealing a kitten from the house of her husband's lover.

Christine Hemming was caught on a surveillance camera entering the house of her husband's mistress, Emily Cox, a year ago, then emerging with 4-month-old tabby kitten Beauty under her arm. Hemming told a jury at Birmingham Crown Court that she had gone to Cox's house to deliver mail to her husband, but what happened next was "a blur."

The cat has never been found. Hemming was convicted of burglary last month. On Friday a judge gave her a nine-month suspended sentence and ordered her to perform 150 hours of community service. Hemming is separated from her husband, Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming.