The Mitchell Judgment

Today, in the Supreme Court, the decision on the appeal by Roderic Neil Mitchell, which has dragged on In the Supreme Court for 11 months, was handed down by Chief Justice Alan Blow. Previously, the case had dragged in the Magistrates’ Court for seven years and related to charges of cruelty, aggravated cruelty and associated offences during the time he owned a dairy farm in Redpa in the north west of the state. The case involved hundreds of abused, starved, neglected and dead and dying cows and calves.

Last September. Magistrate Reg Marron sentenced Mitchell, formerly of Redpa, in the north west of the state, to a maximum of 15 months in prison after finding him guilty of almost 190 charges including cruelty, aggravated cruelty and a number of other associated charges.

Today, Chief Justice Blow upheld all the convictions contained in the Magistrate’s judgement, but bizarrely determined that the sentence was ‘manifestly excessive’. He re-sentenced Mitchell to a maximum of 12 months imprisonment, with 6 months to be served before Mitchell can apply for parole. Mitchell’s barrister, Tom Moloney said that he was considering an appeal, and applied for costs for Mitchell’s appeal. The matter of those costs was adjourned sine die.

Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty representative Suzanne Cass was at the court.

‘While obviously we are pleased that there is still a custodial sentence, we believe that such a light sentence sends a clear message out to farmers that they can abuse, starve, neglect and kill animals and only go to gaol for 6 months’, she said. ‘The 15 months sentence handed down by Magistrate Marron was manifestly inadequate, and to cut it back even further is another sad day indeed for Tasmania animals. As the system works, Mitchell has not been prevented from having care and control of animals throughout this endless legal wrangling. There needs to be something in the Bail Act or another statute which protects animals from people like Mitchell. And obviously that must be enforced and enforceable. This is a massive flaw in the system which puts hundreds of thousands of animals at risk’.

‘Mitchell has been making a mockery of the Tasmanian justice system for 8 years’.

Ms Cass alleges that there were hundreds of cows and calves who suffered terribly at Mitchell’s hands, with charges being laid only in the case of animals who could be identified and the offences proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

‘We have seen hours of video of shocking animal abuse, dead and dying cows and calves, and a mass of photographs’, she said. ‘This sentence is yet another example of how the Tasmania judiciary regards the abuse and torture of animals, because had Mitchell been sentenced in respect of all the animals he abused and killed, the sentence would have been decades rather than months. Perhaps if Chief Justice Blow had seen what we have seen, we might have got a more appropriate sentence.

Mitchell’s earlier sentence included a costs order of $110,000, and a ban upon his having custody or control of animals for ten years, and these aspects were not varied.

‘Animal advocates who have followed this and other cases of what is truly sickening and appalling cruelty are sick to death of the hopeless lack of expediency in dealing with such cases as this, and of the woefully inadequate sentencing that we see each and every time. We cannot understand why judges and magistrates consistently fail to see the link between animal abuse and other forms of violence and anti-social behaviour and we certainly cannot understand their complete disregard and apathy for such terrible animal suffering.

Ms Cass says that Mitchell’s attempts to have costs awarded against the taxpayer is yet another example of his abuse of the Tasmanian justice system.

‘In all seriousness, why should the taxpayer have to pay any more than the hundreds of thousands of dollars this case has already cost? The only reward today from this sorry, tragic case is that for once, Mitchell did not walk free from the court’ she concluded.
Suzanne Cass, Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty PO Box 252 BRIDGEWATER TAS 7030 www.stoptac.org www.liveexportshame.com