Risdon Prison inmate pleads guilty to cruelly killing baby birds and harming sulphur-crested cockatoo

Content warning: A recidivist offender has pleaded guilty to a disturbing instance of animal cruelty committed while locked up at Risdon Prison, and harming Australian wildlife.

Risdon Prison. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A recidivist offender has pleaded guilty to a disturbing instance of animal cruelty committed while locked up at Risdon Prison.

On Tuesday, Benjamin Edward Bakes appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to aggravated animal assault dating back to January 12, 2022.

Magistrate Jackie Hartnett heard that at the prison on that day, Bakes used a high-pressure hose to cause fledgling sparrows to fall from their nest from a height of three metres.

He then stomped on them until they died.

Bakes, 33, also pleaded guilty to two counts of taking protected wildlife at Risdon Vale between October 12 to 14, 2021.

He lastly pleaded guilty to animal cruelty on the same dates at Risdon Vale against a sulphur-crested cockatoo.

The court heard the bird suffered injuries to its beak and wing.

Bakes will be sentenced in the Burnie Supreme Court on June 3 for the aggravated animal cruelty charge, with the other charges adjourned.

According to court documents, Bakes has been imprisoned on a number of occasions in the past, and has been described by judges variously as having a “clear propensity for violence” and “a bad record for violence over a long period”.

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Originally published as Risdon Prison inmate pleads guilty to cruelly killing baby birds and harming sulphur-crested cockatoo