Greyhound live-baiting: State wants Tom Noble to serve jail time

THE Attorney-General wants a disgraced greyhound trainer at the centre of the live baiting scandal to serve jail time for animal cruelty.

Greyhound trainer Tom Noble.

THE Attorney-General wants a disgraced greyhound trainer at the centre of the live baiting scandal to serve jail time for animal cruelty.

Tom Noble, 69, was handed a three-year, wholly suspended jail sentence last September after he pleaded guilty to animal cruelty in the Ipswich District Court.

Noble strapped animals including piglets, possums and rabbits to a lure arm at his Churchable training track in 2014 while training greyhounds.

Today, the Attorney-General’s appeal of his suspended sentence was heard in the State’s highest court.

The Court of Appeal was told the three-year sentence was not in dispute, but the decision to wholly suspended it was.

Director of Public Prosecutions Michael Byrne QC said while there was evidence Noble’s wife would suffer if he were jailed, it was “not unusual”.

Mr Byrne also said it was a landmark case.

“This is the first time this offence has come before the Court of Appeal in this state,” he said.

Noble’s barrister, Angus Edwards, said the suspended sentence was appropriate.

“There is no simple correct sentence, there is a breadth of sentencing discretion,” he said.

The Court of Appeal will hand down its decision at a later date