Really nasty yellow journalism by the Mirror.
Pure speculation by the owner:
“It seems like somebody has given her a kicking which obviously isn’t a very nice thing to do.”
No one witnessed this attack. It is more likely that she ran into a automobile or bus tire.
Automobiles are the major “predator” of cats in urban areas.
This was an old cat, 13, so it is quite likely that her hearing and sight were going.
This is completely irresponsible of the paper to claim that this is an animal cruelty case with no more to go on than pure speculation by the owner.
You could be right and the thought did cross my mind. Other sources are reporting it, too, though, and the owner did take the animal to a vet for her injuries. Not sure if they have anyway of telling or making a good guess. It’s not out of the realm of possibility she was injured deliberately by humans...even in animal friendly England as this case below recently happened to a dog there:
Teenage gang fed Chunky the chihuahua drugs, set him on fire and broke his neck before dumping him on a tip - but he SURVIVED
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3332306/Teenage-gang-fed-Chunky-chihuahua-drugs-set-fire-broke-neck-dumping-tip-SURVIVED.html
Another source about the kitty:
‘Bus Stop Cat’ who was famous for being friendly mourned after being ‘kicked to death’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12134223/Beloved-local-celebrity-bus-stop-cat-mourned-after-being-kicked-to-death-by-thugs.html