TT-Line says pony suffocation death charges should be dropped because the laws don’t apply
Tasmania’s top judge will soon make a decision on whether animal welfare charges against the Spirit of Tasmania’s operator should be dropped. The liner says it’s not legally responsible for the suffocation deaths of 16 ponies it carted across the Bass Strait.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Ferry company says truck operator in control of horses on board
- TT-Line denies charges after Spirit of Tasmania pony deaths
THE SPIRIT of Tasmania’s operator has argued before the state’s top judge that it shouldn’t be criminally responsible – or even charged – for the suffocation deaths of 16 horses it carried across the Bass Strait.
On Friday, TT-Line’s lawyer Robert Taylor appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania after lodging a motion to review the charges laid by Biosecurity Tasmania.
TT-Line has pleaded not guilty 29 animal welfare charges, including allegations the liner didn’t provide adequate air flow for the polo ponies during a voyage from Devonport to Victoria in January 2018.
Mr Taylor argued before Chief Justice Alan Blow that the Australian Animal Welfare land transport regulations, which sets out specific requirements for vehicles transporting animals, applied to drivers of a vehicle – not the master of a vessel.
He also said the regulations were limited to land transport and explicitly concerned drivers of vehicles.
But Crown Prosecutor Simon Nicholson said the regulations didn’t exclusively apply to drivers, but to anyone transporting a horse.
He said the alleged animal welfare breach concerned the way the horses were transported in a container, which was the responsibility of not only the drivers but also the company operating the vessel.
Last November, TT-Line pleaded not guilty in the Burnie Magistrates Court to one count of using a management method likely to result in unreasonable and unjustifiable pain and suffering, and 28 counts of failing to ensure the creatures were individually stalled.
The month prior, Andrew Williams – who owned seven of the horses – pleaded not guilty to one count of using a method likely to result in pain and suffering, and 16 counts of failing to ensure the horses were individually stalled.
Fellow horse truck driver Thomas Martin also pleaded not guilty, denying 12 counts of failing to ensure the horses were individually stalled.
Mr Williams – a former World Cup polo player – found the animals dead when he opened the float he was driving at a property in regional Victoria.
They had just competed at the annual Barnbougle Polo Tournament.
In separate proceedings, Mr Williams, his company Willo Polo and his employer Twynam Agricultural Group, are also suing TT-Line for negligence, claiming $739,000 in losses through the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Chief Justice Alan Blow will deliver his decision on TT-Line’s charges at a later date.
Everybody appearing at Hobart Magistrates Court, Friday, July 18
Here is a list of people appearing at Hobart Magistrates Court on July 18.
Father and son tell conflicting accounts of deadly accident
Rumours swirled when a young man died shortly after an incident at his football club. A court has heard differing accounts from a father and his son about what happened days before his death.