A BALLARAT teenager who strangled a pet rabbit in front of at least 11 terrified witnesses in broad daylight was yesterday sentenced to a year in jail, after a magistrate rejected his claim he had performed a mercy killing.But father-of-one Tai Sharp, 18, walked free from Ballarat Magistrates Court on bail after lodging an appeal against the severity of the sentence.
The court heard that at the Little Bridge Street bus stop on the afternoon of November 3 last year, Sharp took the rabbit from a teenage female friend, stomped on its head, wrung its neck and pelted it twice against the bus stop window, before shouting, “I can kill the f***ing rabbit” and “how do you like that, I can do it again” and throwing the dead pet to the ground.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson said at least three children – the youngest six years old – witnessed the killing.
Sharp pleaded guilty to charges of public nuisance,
dishonestly undertaking in the retention of stolen goods and theft.
Sergeant Anderson called on magistrate Michelle Hodgson to jail him, a suggestion that drew gasps from Sharp’s many supporters seated in the body of the court.
“Your honour, this is a despicable act, it takes place in a busy Ballarat street on a weekday afternoon,” Sergeant Anderson said.
“The court needs to send a strong message of its abhorrence of this behaviour. People cannot commit these type of offences.”
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