Two men plead guilty to animal cruelty after being accused of assaulting kangaroo

Two men pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges in the Bega Local Court on Tuesday. Photo: Ian Campbell.

Two young men originally accused of assaulting a kangaroo on the Far South Coast both pleaded guilty on the first occasion they appeared in court to face their charges.

Three men – 18-year-old Will Cody Smith, 20-year-old Travis Dusan Nemec and 22-year-old Lachlan Westaway – had been charged over the incident from 22 July 2023.

Originally, NSW Police alleged three people had grabbed and repeatedly assaulted a kangaroo on Main Street, Merimbula, at around 9 am that morning.

The kangaroo managed to flee after the alleged assault.

It is also alleged that a person kicked the glass door of a laundromat on Market Street a short time later.

The cases against the three men were heard at Bega Local Court on Tuesday (12 September) where Nemec, who is from Eden, and Westaway, from Wolumla, both pleaded guilty to a charge of committing an act of cruelty on an animal.

Their matters were listed for sentencing on 24 October.

Mr Smith, a Greigs Flat resident who also faces a charge of committing an act of cruelty on an animal, had his case adjourned for a mention to 26 September.