The court heard of a 'premediated' and 'brazen' plan hatched by animal rights activists to break into a farm and steal or 'liberate' a baby calf.
ABC News: Jon SambellInvestigators used DNA testing to confirm the calf was sired by a bull residing on the targeted farm owned by WS Partridge & Sons. Defence lawyer Marilyn Loveday said that both men were merely accomplices to Herceg and not principle offenders.
Ms Loveday said Swiebodzinski drove Warden and Herceg to and from the property but never entered himself and was not acting as a lookout. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan disregarded those comments and said all three activists had acted with"a common purpose" to commit a crime.In his closing submission to the court, Mr Dworcan said crimes of this nature affected"the livelihoods of farmers". He said the activists also created a biosecurity threat by entering the property, and the calf had to be temporarily quarantined once it was returned to the farm.In her closing submission, Ms Loveday said the two men were not"troublemakers" and were simply youths with a passion for protecting animals."They're young and they haven't learnt yet that you can never win." In her sentencing statement, Magistrate Scaddan said the crime was carried out"late at night" and designed with a"degree of subterfuge".The magistrate noted the absence of remorse shown by Warden and Swiebodzinski and said her sentencing must act as a general deterrent for similar crimes in future. Magistrate Scaddan said punishment must act as a personal deterrent for Warden in particular, who had also pleaded guilty to several other charges of trespass and one charge of stealing. Digital evidence seized by police incriminated Warden in a string of other trespass offences and the theft of a dead piglet from a Pinjarra piggery in September 2018. The court heard the dead piglet was later used in animal rights protests and displayed in public on a"white sheet, surrounding by flowers". Magistrate Scaddan also denied a request for a spent conviction for Swiebodzinski, who is a Polish national and permanent resident in Australia with no prior convictions.After the court was adjourned, Warden and Swiebodzinski fronted the media in front of Perth Magistrates' Court, flanked by fellow members of the Direct Action Everywhere group who were wearing blue shirts that read"Right to Rescue".
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