U.K. lawmaker’s wife convicted of kitten theft

Christine Hemming, the estranged wife of British lawmaker John Hemming, was convicted on Friday of stealing a kitten from the home of her husband's lover, the Associated Press reports.

Hemmings, who denied the charge, was caught on a surveillance camera entering the home Emily Cox in September 2010. The camera caught her a few minutes later leaving the home with a 4-month-old kitten named Beauty under her arm. The kitten has not been seen since.

Hemming had told the jury that she had gone to Cox's home to deliver mail.

"It was just a blur. … I left holding a kitten — there is no doubt about that — but I have no recollection of picking the kitten up," she said, according to the AP.

Sky News reports that Hemmings "showed no reaction" when the guilty verdict came back at Birmingham Crown Court. She will be sentenced next month. 

According to Sky News, during the trial, the jury heard that the Hemmings and Cox were involved in a "unconventional love triangle" and that the Hemmings' marriage was under strain by September of last year.

After the verdict, Jason Pegg, crown advocate for the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, spoke to the BBC.

"This case was in its simplest terms house burglary in which something precious and personal was stolen namely, a kitten," he said. "We're still unsure what the motive behind the burglary was but whatever it might be, a crime was committed and today Mrs. Hemming has been convicted of that crime."