Guy in Tasmania Kills Nine Penguins, Gets Fined $82

Twenty-year-old Josh Jeffrey got off lightly in the Burnie Magistrates Court yesterday. He’d pled not guilty to both charges against him—which amounted to taking a stick to a colony of little penguins on New Year’s Day for lols.

The case had heard that on January 1, 2016, a man at Sulphur Creek beech heard "violent" sounds and intervened to find nine dead penguins, apparently bludgeoned to death. Josh Jeffrey, who was 18 at the time, was later apprehended and charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals likely to result in death, deformity or serious disablement, and one count of take, buy, sell, or possess protected wildlife without authority.

He was convicted on both counts and sentenced to 49 hours of community service and fined $82.15. A conviction was also recorded against his name.

Magistrate Tamara Jago noted that throughout the trial Josh had shown no remorse and had continually denied his guilt. She described the event as a "callous act."

"The fractures to their head were consistent with blunt force trauma … the attack continued for at least several minutes,” she said, according to ABC reporter Henry Zwartz. "They were an easy target."

According to Fairfax, a psychological report had been presented to court, showing that Josh suffered attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and an intellectual development disorder. The Magistrate noted that these impairments had been a consideration in his sentencing.

Meanwhile, an outraged community has taken to Josh’s Facebook profile to vent frustration at his forgiving sentence.

“Hide mate,” writes one such person. “Make it a good hiding spot. And I’d stay off the internet, too. Much smarter people than you can find out where you are, and what you’re doing. Took me only 20 minutes to pinpoint your exact location. Cunt.”