Teenage fawn killers sentence 'pathetic'

Two 17-year-old boys have been ordered to do 100 hours community service for stamping a young deer to death in Dorset "for a laugh". The pair were found guilty at Poole Youth Court in December of killing the fawn in Upton Country Park in June.

The boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were also given a 12-month community rehabilitation orders and each told to pay £1,000, at £20 a week, to cover prosecution costs and vet bills.

The teenagers were cleared of beating a wild mammal with intent to inflict unnecessary suffering. A 16-year-old boy was cleared of both charges.


Photo from here.

The boys were "egging" each other on, with one swinging the deer by its leg and another karate chopping its head, before they "stomped" it to death, the court heard. The 16-year-old boy, who was cleared of all charges, told police he only nudged the fawn once with his foot and did not laugh like the others.

The fawn, which was four to six weeks old, suffered several skull fractures, a severed spine and a fractured right leg. Post-mortem tests showed the deer suffered multiple injuries.

District Judge Roger House said: "The penalty for this offence is such that there cannot be imprisonment in the youth court." Animal campaigners outside the court called the sentence "pathetic".