A Renwick teenager who bludgeoned 25 seals to death near Kaikoura last year told police he thought they were pests.
Jason Trevor Godsiff did not give police any other explanation, according to the police summary of facts heard in the Blenheim District Court yesterday.
Godsiff, 19, stood in the dock as a first offender but left with two convictions after admitting wilfully ill-treating the protected seals at Ohau Point, near Kaikoura, and possessing an offensive weapon.
Godsiff used a galvanised pipe to kill the seals, eight of whom were pups as young as a few days old.
He will be sentenced on September 13.
Beside Godsiff stood Jamaal Peter Roy Large, a 36-year-old driver from Wairau Valley, who faces the same charges. He has not entered pleas and will appear again on August 8. Judge Michael Behrens released both men on bail.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Graham Single said the men worked together as builders and had known each other for some time.
The summary of facts said the men were driving towards Blenheim in Large's ute after working on a salmon farm at Waiau, in North Canterbury, on November 26.
It was getting dark when they stopped at Ohau Point, a spot popular with tourists and people from the region because of the seal colony there.
Godsiff put on a headlamp on and walked towards a group of seals, carrying the pipe, the summary said.
He then struck the seals, before continuing his journey to Blenheim.
Department of Conservation workers who examined the scene later found that most of the dead seals had been struck around the head.
Other, live seals had injuries suggesting they had also been hit.
- The Marlborough Express
No comments:
Post a Comment