A 20-YEAR-OLD Oxford University student has been cautioned for sending a malicious email to an animal rights group.

The man was arrested at the end of February on suspicion of sending a malicious communication after an email containing a photograph of a dead cat was sent to the Speak website.

In the email, the student threatened to kill a cat every time there was a new posting on the site.

Speak has held regular demonstrations against the university's animal testing laboratory, which is being built in South Parks Road in Oxford.

A police spokesman said: "He may have seen his actions simply as a joke, but he caused a great deal of distress."