Max Loketi's defence lawyer argued that his client had attacked the animal in 'the most humane way he could', but a Perth magistrate disagreed.
A Tongan fruit picker has been told he will be jailed in Western Australia for viciously beating a cat while another person recorded him and then uploaded the footage to social media.The men were on working visas at a fruit operation in WaroonaMagistrate Joe Randazzo said the act was "malicious" and amounted to an act of "torture"
The footage of the attack, which was played in the Perth Magistrates Court, showed Loketi first holding the animal by the tail and then hitting it again when it was on the floor, barely moving.Loketi, who appeared in court today via video link from Hakea prison and with the assistance of a Tongan interpreter, pleaded guilty to one charge of animal cruelty.RSPCA prosecutor Ian Weldon described the attack as "sustained and vicious" and said the footage of it was "distressing".
Loketi's lawyer, Gregory Chin, said his client had arrived in Australia eight months ago on a working visa and at the time of the incident was supposed to be in isolation because a colleague had tested positive to COVID-19. The court heard he was from a small village in Tonga where Mr Chin said his upbringing included the hunting of wild animals.Mr Weldon said while Loketi may have been taught to kill animals humanely during his upbringing in Tonga, "there was nothing humane about the way he dealt with the cat".
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