Corella case flies away
THE prosecutors, magistrate and defence had never come across it before.
The matter of Michael Denis Lawlor, 61, was stood down in the Warwick Magistrates Court yesterday, due to none of the parties having encountered a similar case previously.
Mr Lawlor was in court on one charge of discharging a weapon in a public place and one charge of restriction on taking a protected animal.
On February 4 Mr Lawlor was travelling on Roona Rd, just over 5km east of Warwick, when he noticed a flock of corellas eating into his friend's crops.
Mr Lawlor fired a shotgun, hitting four birds. Two of them were later euthanised.
While Mr Lawlor pleaded guilty to both charges, a sentence was not handed down, with all legal parties in the room never having encountered a similar case.
"I'm not aware of any precedents for this case," Magistrate Bevan Manthey said.
"I will have to make further enquiries as to where we go."
While Mr Lawlor pleaded guilty to the charges, his lawyer Geoff Hobson argued he only intended to scare the birds away, rather than kill them.
He also argued Mr Lawlor was only five metres from the property when he fired the shots, something he said Mr Manthey should take that into account when sentencing for the charge of discharging a weapon in a public place.
Corellas carry a conservation value of $1611 per bird.
Lawlor is due to appear in the court again on March 19.
