N.Zealand teen jailed over seal massacre: reports

A New Zealand teenager who admitted bludgeoning to death 25 seals, including newborn pups, has been jailed for two years, according to reports. Jason Trevor Godsiff had previously pleaded guilty to charges arising from the seal killings last November at Ohau Point, a popular tourist spot near the South Island town of Kaikoura, the Malborough Express reported. The 19-year-old reportedly told police he clubbed the seals with a metal pipe because he believed they were pests. He was given a two-year jail sentence at a hearing in Blenheim District Court for willfully ill-treating protected animals, the newspaper, part of the Fairfax group, reported. Department of Conservation local manager Dave Hayes said judge Ian Mill had sent a strong message on preventing animal cruelty. "The judge made special mention of the scale around the incident and of it being unprecedented," Hayes told Radio New Zealand. "Since seals were protected (in 1978) we've not encountered such a large-scale act of cruelty." A second accused, Jamaal Large, 36, has denied similar charges.