Police are hunting a "sadist" who has beheaded two rabbits belonging to a boy with cerebral palsy.

Lee Steege, 13, and his mother Karen were alerted by a neighbour, whose young daughter spotted the headless bodies from her window at a block of flats in Shirley, Southampton.

The rabbits, Gizmo and Emily, were fine when Mrs Steege put them in their hutch at 6pm on Tuesday.

A third rabbit, Thumper, managed to escape unharmed what police described as a "cruel, horrendous and motiveless" attack.

The rabbit hutches and pen were in a fenced area with a padlocked gate at the flats in Evenlode Road.

Officers have not found the rabbits' heads and one theory is that the killings were committed by a trophy hunter.

The upset teenager now has to prepare for an operation on Thursday on his ankles at Southampton General Hospital.

"This is horrible. We just can't image why anyone would want to do such a thing. It is difficult to explain how upset we are," Mrs Steege said.