Animal cruelty charges against two men accused of killing 10 chickens and torturing a pig at Nimbin’s Djanbung Gardens last December have been dropped.
Reece Parke and Bradley Presbury appeared in Lismore Local Court yesterday after Magistrate Annette Sinclair adjourned their hearing part-heard on August 30.
It was alleged the men killed 10 heritage chickens and tortured ‘Polly’ the pig at Nimbin’s Djanbung Gardens on December 13, 2016.
Mr Presbury’s solicitor Tracey Randall told the court the prosecution had failed to provide her with some evidence in the case and a recording of a key witness was not disclosed to the defence.
Ms Randall objected to the use of a police interview in court in which Mr Presbury allegedly implicated Mr Parke in the crime.
Magistrate Sinclair rejected the use of the interview, saying a defendant was not compelled to give evidence against a co-accused.
She also rejected prosecution attempts to tender a recording of a phone call between Presbury and a female friend, where he allegedly said Reece Parke was involved in an animal killing.
During the hearing Magistrate Sinclair expressed her frustration at the progress of the matters, which she thought would be ready to progress after a four month adjournment.
After multiple issues with the admissibility of evidence during the hearing, the prosecution formally withdrew their case yesterday afternoon due to insufficient evidence.
Relieved supporters at the court said both men’s families had been abused for 12 months since the allegations were published in the media.
Police are no closer to finding out who slashed Polly’s snout and injured her internally, or who decapitated the 10 heritage chickens with a stolen sickle.
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