Prosecution or Free Pass?

[Black Orchid]

Confronting footage of an off-duty South Australian police officer stoning a wombat to death has sparked outrage, but there are claims he is within his rights to do it.

Senior Community Constable, Waylon Johncock, was filmed laughing while pegging rocks at a wombat in the state’s Eyre Peninsula.

The video shows Mr Johncock and another man following a wombat in a 4WD along a dirt road.

The car stops and Mr Johncock, who was off-duty at the time, gets out and starts following the animal on foot with rocks in his hand.

He gives the thumbs up before pelting the wombat with rocks.

The driver starts laughing as the animal tries to run away, with the cop continuing to hurl large stones.

“Go on, you’ve got him, you’ve got him,” the second man says.

“Hit him, hit him, kill him.”

He throws another rock, hitting the wombat in the head and causing it to topple over.

Mr Johncock raises his arms in triumph and smiles at the camera as the animal struggles on the ground

“You killed him!” the driver says.

“First bloke I’ve ever seen kill a wombat on foot, bro.”

The video drew widespread outrage after being shared to the Wombat Awareness Organisation Facebook page, but an Aboriginal elder has hit back, saying Mr Johncock was within his rights to kill the animal in this way.

Mr Johncock is indigenous and under the Native Title Act 1993, Aboriginal people are allowed to maintain ancient customs like hunting local wildlife.

Wirangu-Kokatha elder Jack Johncock, told the ABC, that using rocks to kill a wombat is one of the traditional hunting methods used by local Aboriginal people.

“It’s easy for people to sit back and judge people,” he said.

“For the people of the west coast of South Australia, the wombat is a big part of their diet and they’ll get wombat any way they can.”

After sharing the video online, Brigitte Stevens from the Wombat Awareness Organisation, created a Change.org petition calling for the men in the video to be investigated under the Animal Welfare Act.

“Police, off-duty or not, should be held to high standards. Celebrating an act of animal cruelty in this way is unacceptable. Wombats are beautiful, gentle creatures and do not deserve such cruel torment,” the petition reads.

More than 130,000 people have signed the petition, but elder Jack Johncock says it shows how little people know about these traditions.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/scie ... 3f987f7569

I agree he should be held to a higher standard and be held accountable He's a disgrace!. He isn't some outback Aborigine he is a Policeman for God's sake! Wombats are slow and docile animals and don't deserve to be stoned to death by some idiot yahoo. I won't post the pictures of his glee as they are disgusting.

I signed the Petition and there are almost 180,000 signatures now. See below ...

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-wo ... n-gb%3Av13

[Black Orchid]

In my opinion they should be dragged into the 21st century or they can give up all their mod cons and clothing and 'go bush'. People like this should NOT be exempt from animal cruelty prosecutions.

I should imagine their ancestors used spears to kill and didn't chase defenceless animals around pelting them with rocks until they died. They are also given a free pass on Dugongs and Sea Turtles and allowed to torture them. Enough is enough.

Our ancestors also practised cannibalism thousands of years ago so we should get a free pass there should we?

[Nicole]

Prosecution. And I’ve even seen aboriginals saying “he doesn’t look very traditional”. The footage is horrific.

[Texan]

Did he eat the wombat or make some productive use of it? If so, I have no problem with it. If wombats are tearing up his property, I have no problem with it. If he only did it for “fun” and it’s against the law, prosecute away.

[Nicole]

He was enjoying it tex. Sick.

[Texan]

He was enjoying it tex. Sick.

I would enjoy shooting a coyote as it stalked my small animals, but I wouldn’t hunt anything that I wouldn’t eat or wasn’t threatening me.

[The Reboot]

If it was anybody else, people wouldn't blink twice at prosecution. But no, we have to pussyfoot around and accommodate "culture" in some vain attempt at moral superiority. Let's not pretend this is anything else but a ploy for boongs to have separate rules to Whiteys.

[Black Orchid]

Almost 300,000 signatures in 4 days ...

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-wo ... n-gb%3Av13

Will we hear any more about it or will it be swept away? A bit like how many ISIS 'brides' we have now welcomed back in silence and stealth.

[Nicole]

Almost 300,000 signatures in 4 days ...

https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-wo ... n-gb%3Av13

Will we hear any more about it or will it be swept away? A bit like how many ISIS 'brides' we have now welcomed back in silence and stealth.

He won’t be charged, he will keep his job and it will be swept under the carpet, because he’s aboriginal. White guy would go down.

[Black Orchid]

An off-duty Aboriginal police officer will escape criminal charges for throwing rocks at a wombat on South Australia's west coast.

The video of Senior Community Constable Waylon Johncock went viral in early October, prompting national outcry.

At the time, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens described the officer's behaviour as "totally abhorrent" and "unacceptable".

Police conducted parallel criminal and internal disciplinary investigations into the matter.

In a statement today, Commissioner Stevens said the investigators established that as a "traditional Aboriginal man", he had an "appropriate permit to hunt wombats for food".

"Whilst distressing to many who viewed the video, it has been established that the senior community constable's actions were not inconsistent with traditional hunting practices," he said.

"I have been advised that the wombat in the video was killed and eaten.

"The video shown on social media was part of a longer video that has not been released."

He will also remain in his role with SA Police.

The commissioner said legal advice provided to police by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions yesterday found "there would be no reasonable prospect of a conviction" for any criminal offence.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-06/ ... b/11775036

To be expected and I am not one bit surprised. What BS!

You can't have it both ways. If you want to hunt cruelly with rocks then take off your clothes, grab a spear and go and live in the red centre.

If you want to live in a civilised society then you should be accountable for your uncivilised actions.