‘It was me’: guilty neighbour of New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern reveals he killed Paddles the ‘First Cat’

Paddles, a social media star who had more than 10,000 fans on Twitter, once interrupted a phone call between her human mum and US President Donald Trump by meowing loudly
Chris, Ardern’s neighbour, said he apologised to the prime ministerial household after he ran over Paddles, and his children even wrote her a letter asking her not to send their father to jail

Animals

Agence France-Presse

Published: 5:45pm, 10 Jul 2019

Why you can trust SCMP

Nearly two years after New Zealand’s beloved “First Cat” was knocked down in an accident, a guilt-ridden neighbour of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has publicly come clean about the circumstances that led to Paddles’ untimely death.

Paddles the ginger tabby, who had extra toes on her paws, died in November 2017, soon after Ardern took office. The story behind her death was never publicly revealed, leading to curiosity about how she died.

The much-loved feline was a star in her own right: she was profiled in US magazine Vanity Fair, had more than 10,000 fans on a Twitter page created in her name, and she famously once interrupted a phone conversation between Ardern and US President Donald Trump by meowing loudly.

Ardern’s neighbour, identified only as Chris, told local news website Stuff he was rushing back to work from a lunch break in his Auckland home when the ginger kitty darted into the path of his reversing car in his driveway.

“It was kind of shocking at first, and I felt fairly bad because I knew a bit of the back story, I knew Paddles had some kind of social media presence and had an extra toe,” Chris said.

Paddles was famous in her own right. Photo: Twitter

“I was also aware that to Jacinda and Clarke, Paddles was their fur baby at that point that they loved, so I was pretty gutted,” he added.

He could have made a purrfect getaway, but Chris fronted up to the Ardern-Gayford household and explained what had happened.

RIP Paddles: New Zealand’s ‘First Cat’ was run over by a car – and Twitter is sad

“I went over and knocked on the door and Clarke [Gayford] came out. He was really nice and said ‘look, it could have happened to anyone’. He was clearly very upset,” he told Stuff.

He said his children even wrote a condolence card, asking the New Zealand prime minister not to send their father to prison.

In a message announcing Paddles’ death in 2017, Ardern said on Facebook: “To anyone who has ever lost a pet, you’ll know how sad we feel. Paddles was much loved, and not just by us. Thanks for everyone’s thoughts.”

News of the ginger tabby’s death was met with grief among her fans, with the hashtag #RIPPaddles trending on Twitter after the incident. Some called for a state funeral while others said they were too upset to go to work.

As the back story remained under wraps, some conspiracies popped up on the platform, with one Twitter user asking: “Paddles interrupts phone call from POTUS to Prime Minister, several days later is struck by car and killed. Coincidence?”

After Chris spoke publicly about the incident for the first time on Wednesday, the @FirstCatofNZ Twitter account retweeted his confession and made its first post in more than a year.

“I forgive you. #prrp.”

Post