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Kitten killer appeals jail sentence |
| Further to the post from last year here1:21p.m. 6 May 2008 A teenager who kicked and killed a kitten believes he should not have been sent to jail, a court has been told.Shane Moore was 17 when he kicked the kitten twice in a park at Caboolture on June 27, 2006.The kicking ruptured the kitten's liver and damaged its kidneys, and it was later found dead in nearby bushes.Moore pleaded guilty in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on November 2 last year to one count of animal cruelty and was sentenced to one month's jail with an 18-month probationary period.He spent five days behind bars.His lawyer, Brian Devereaux SC, today argued the sentence was "manifestly excessive", despite describing Moore's deed as "terrible" and "appalling".Mr Devereaux urged Brisbane District Court Judge William Everson to remove Moore's conviction, arguing it had caused him to lose an apprenticeship.Mr Devereaux told the court there had been no malicious intent behind his client's "spontaneous" decision to kick the kitten to shoo it away.Lawyer for the RSPCA, Graeme Page, condemned Moore's actions, telling the court a more lenient sentence would fail to act as a deterrent to others."To impose another form of sentence does not have the deterrent effect that this legislation clearly contemplates," Mr Page said.Outside court, senior RSPCA inspector Tracey Jackson said she believed the initial sentence was "in line with community expectations" for this type of offence.Judge Everson is expected to hand down his decision by the end of the week.AAP |
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