Full Court of Supreme Court to hear Spirit of Tasmania pony deaths appeal

An appeal by TT-Line will be heard by the Full Court of Tasmania’s Supreme Court, after it was found guilty over the suffocation deaths of 16 polo ponies. SEE THE LATEST

Spirit of Tasmania. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Matray

THE Full Court of the Supreme Court will hear an appeal by ferry operator TT-Line, which says it shouldn’t have been found guilty of animal welfare offences after 16 polo ponies died by suffocation aboard the Spirit of Tasmania.

On Tuesday, Chief Justice Alan Blow said all five grounds of appeal would be heard by the full court, in a one-day hearing to be set down for late February or early March, 2023.

TT-Line is due to be sentenced in the Burnie Magistrates Court this Wednesday, after Magistrate Leanne Topfer, in late October, found the ferry operator guilty of 29 animal welfare charges related to the 2018 calamity.

In a notice of review filed with the court, TT-Line argues the magistrate erred in law on several grounds, including that she did not provide the ferry operator with “procedural fairness” and didn’t accept its defence of “honest and reasonable mistake”.

TT-Line also claims the magistrate erred in fact by finding there was a causal connection between double-stalling the horses, and the risk of them overheating.

The Spirit’s operator argues the evidence does not establish this point beyond reasonable doubt.

The horses, which had just competed at the annual Barnbougle Polo Tournament, were found dead inside a converted refrigeration trailer after crossing the Bass Strait from Devonport and Melbourne.

Days after the verdict, TT-Line imposed a controversial ban on transporting livestock across Bass Strait – but lifted its restrictions after reaching a deal with the state government.

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