Court told Luke Tomlinson thought it was okay to keep leopard gecko after seeing David Attenborough documentary

The brother of a Gold Coast millionaire who lost a leg after being shot in a robbery has pleaded guilty to keeping a restricted reptile at his home. But he had a very unusual reason for thinking it was okay.

A leopard gecko on a branch.

THE brother of a Gold Coast millionaire had an imported leopard gecko in his home because a documentary by David Attenborough said it was okay, a court was told.

Luke Tomlinson, who was shot in the leg in a robbery in Ashmore last year, also had a boa constrictor he claimed as “tame”.

Tomlinson, the older brother of millionaire businessman Sean, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court today to two counts of possessing a restricted reptile.

Luke Tomlinson leaving Southport District Court.

Tomlinson is also the son of Owen who bought the Gold Coast Blaze National Basketball League to town.

Magistrate Pamela Dowse fined Tomlinson $5,000 for owning the snake and leopard gecko.

She was incredulous when Tomlinson told her the snake was “tame”.

“How do you tame a snake?” Ms Dowse asked.

Tomlinson replied: “You handle it a lot.”

Ms Dowse said: “Poor snake.”

The maximum penalty for owning a restricted reptile is $133,000 or one year in prison.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Manon Barwick said police found the reptiles when they searched Tomlinson’s luxury waterfront mansion in Paradise Point about 4.20pm on July 30 last year.

The boa constrictor and leopard gecko were taken into the custody of Biosecurity Queensland.

Sgt Barwick said she did not have any information about what happened to the reptiles.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GOLD COAST BULLETIN - JUST $1 FOR THE FIRST 28 DAYS

Tomlinson’s lawyer Jason Jacobson, of Jacobson Mahony Lawyers, said Tomlinson was in hospital during the search, recovering from the robbery.

He had his leg amputated below the knee.

“He thought the lizard was okay because he watched a David Attenborough documentary,” he said.

Mr Jacobson said Tomlinson thought he had permits for the boa constrictor but had been unable to find them.

Leopard geckos are native to Asia and Afghanistan and boa constrictors are typically found in north, central and South America.