Isrule Gardiner: Yarram man admits killing his dog, beating his mum

A Yarram man killed his own dog then “savagely” beat his mum with a meat tenderiser because she was on the phone to her grieving grandchild.

A man kicked his own dog to death then “savagely” beat his mum with a meat tenderiser because she was on the phone to her grieving grandchild, a court has heard.

Isrule Gardiner, 43 of Yarram, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, common law assault, cruelty to an animal and other offences in the County Court on Monday.

The court heard he kicked his dog after overhearing his mum on the phone to his nephew who was upset his father had died.

The man later attacked his 66-year-old mum, beating her with a meat tenderiser and choking her.

He told his mum it was her “fault Lady (the dog) died” because he didn’t want her “to have anything to do with any family”.

A court heard after the attack Gardiner went to their lodger, who lived in a granny flat on the property and told him “I’ve hurt mum”.

He entered the house and helped the victim and said she needed to go to the hospital, to which Gardiner said “no, you’ll get blood in your car”.

The lodger then took Gardiner’s mum to the hospital before Gardiner washed the blood off the kitchen bench and replaced the meat tenderiser on top of the cookbooks.

She had up to 50 staples to her head as a result and suffers ongoing memory loss and severe headaches.

In a police interview he admitted attacking his mum and said: “She was going to be hurt and possibly be killed if I got angry enough and had kept going long enough.”

He said “something in his brain” made him stop because he didn’t want to lose something he loved “like when he killed Lady”.

Gardiner has served 295 days of pre-sentence detention.

He will return to court in June.