Bestiality, aggravated animal cruelty
Sydney, NSW (AU)Incident Date: Monday, Aug 1, 2005
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Brendan Francis McMahon
Case Updates: 11 update(s) available
A New Zealand man has been refused bail on charges of animal cruelty and bestiality after the deaths of 17 rabbits and a guinea pig at a central Sydney office building. Finance industry worker Brendan Francis McMahon, 36, of North Sydney, made a brief court appearance in Aug 12 after being arrested in a vacant office adjacent to his workplace in central Sydney.
The investigation began after skinned and partially skinned dead and dying rabbits began to appear in a lane off York Street, near Circular Quay, late last month. Police also found a dead guinea pig.
The lane adjoined a building in which McMahon allegedly occupied a first-floor office, from which he ran a financial planning and mortgage brokerage, Meares-McMahon Capital with Jason Meares, the brother of Jodhi Packer. The company was formerly known as Transpacific Securities.
During their investigations, police from The Rocks phoned city pet stores to find who had been buying rabbits and found a number of purchases from a credit card in McMahon's name.
They also seized a security video of one purchase.
McMahon was charged with 18 counts of committing acts of aggravated cruelty on 18 rabbits between July 20 and August 11.
He was also charged with committing an act of bestiality with a rabbit on August 1 between 3am and 4am.
He was also charged with two counts of possession of cannabis.
Mr Moore refused McMahon bail and ordered him to reappear before the court on Aug 19 via a prison videolink, when his barrister, Doug Marr, said he would apply for bail.
His company's website said McMahon was voted bachelor of the year by Marie Claire readers in 1998. In fact, that magazine does not run such a competition and another man was voted Cleo Bachelor of the Year in 1998.
According to a police charge sheet tendered to Sydneys Central Court, McMahon allegedly committed bestiality with a rabbit between 3am and 4am on August 1 this year.
On the same day he is also alleged to have committed acts of aggravated animal cruelty on five rabbits and a guinea pig.
Four other rabbits were allegedly mistreated on July 20, with two more allegedly abused on August 5 and 6.
On August 9 and 11, Mr McMahon allegedly mistreated six rabbits.
He was arrested at about 1am Aug 12 following a police investigation conducted in co-operation with the RSPCA.
Case UpdatesSydney financier who successfully appealed against a conviction for mutilating and killing 17 rabbits and a guinea pig says he is now drug-free and eager to return to work.
New Zealand-born Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, last week appealed his conviction of 18 counts of animal cruelty on the grounds of mental illness.
He said his mental disorder - which has been described as extreme social anxiety - was aggravated by heavy drug use before and during his offence.
NSW District Court Judge Peter Berman today dismissed McMahon's application for costs and said there were no exceptional circumstances in the matter.
Outside Sydney's Downing Centre District Court, McMahon blamed those who had supplied him with the drug, ice, for what had happened and said he was still receiving treatment for drugs.
"Anybody who hands somebody an ice pipe and offers them the drug is not a friend of that person,'' McMahon said.
"I've established a drug-free life, I've got married and now I'm going to get on with the rest of my life.''
He said his friends and family had stuck by him throughout the court hearings.
"You don't lose good friends,'' he said.
Psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt earlier told the appeal hearing that McMahon suffers from an underlying mental illness which was exacerbated by his drug use.
Judge Berman found Mr McMahon could not be held responsible for his actions given his mental disorder.
The court was previously told McMahon was smoking $250 worth of ice, or crystal methamphetamine, every three days before he used his company credit card to purchase animals before torturing them to death and dumping their corpses in and around his inner city office building.
"When you experience psychosis and then you come out of psychosis you don't really remember much at all, so it was like it never happened or it happened to another, a different person,'' Mr McMahon said outside the court today.
"So ... it's hard to feel a lot of the types of feelings you'd think that you would have, but that's what psychosis is.''
He said he was relieved to be acquitted of the charges.
"I think the justice system finally worked it through and the law was applied by more learned men than perhaps in the local court,'' he said.
A former cocaine and cannabis user, McMahon said his recreational use of ice became ``very regular'' after only two to three months.
"I think I was burned out and self-medicating and had experienced different drugs before but never became addicted,'' he said.
Mr McMahon said there should be more government programs to help ice addicts.
"It always surprised me that you could get ice pipes in tobacconists and the state government collects GST on those and they're all imported from China which is where most of this comes from.
"If you use ice, you'll either end up in a mental institution, or in jail, or dead.
"Ice is a problem that the government can fix.'' | Source: The Daily Telegraph - Nov 10, 2006
Update posted on Nov 10, 2006 - 11:26AM |
A 16-month jail sentence given to a Sydney financier who mutilated and killed 17 rabbits and a guinea pig was a "disappointing mistake", a judge has found.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, won an appeal against his July conviction on 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
The New Zealand-born businessman used his company credit card to purchase the animals before torturing them to death and dumping their corpses in and around his inner-city office building.
McMahon appealed the conviction on the grounds of mental illness, saying his mental disorder - which has been described as extreme social anxiety - was aggravated by his heavy drug use before and during his offence.
McMahon was smoking $250 worth of ice every three days at the time, his sentence hearing was told.
District Court Judge Peter Berman found sentencing magistrate Ian Barnett made an error in rejecting McMahon's mental health defence, and described the prosecution case against him as "flawed".
"It is disappointing that such mistake was made," Judge Berman said of McMahon's conviction.
"A moment's reflection, or an understanding of the context" of the relevant section of the Crimes Act and the defence of mental illness would have resulted in McMahon's defence being accepted, Judge Berman said.
Psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt had earlier told the appeal hearing that McMahon suffers from an underlying mental illness which was exacerbated by his drug use.
Even after spending a month in prison after his arrest, he was still showing signs of severe mental illness, Dr Allnutt told the hearing.
"I thought he was probably psychotic at the time that I saw him," Allnutt said.
Judge Berman found McMahon could not be held responsible for his actions given his mental disorder.
"It is reprehensible to torture animals and only the evil or the insane would argue otherwise," Berman said.
"That is what right thinking members of the community believe, but Dr Allnutt found ... that at the time the appellant did these terrible things, he was not a right thinking member of the community.
"His mind was so disordered that he did not understand that what he was doing was wrong."
Punishing a mentally ill person for actions over which they have no control would be cruel, he said.
The case was adjourned until November 10, when submissions will be made about whether McMahon should undergo further psychiatric treatment.
McMahon told reporters he would make a statement once the hearing was completed. | Source: TVNZ.Co.NZ - Nov 3, 2006
Update posted on Nov 3, 2006 - 7:52AM |
A Sydney financier jailed for 16 months over the mutilation deaths of 17 rabbits and a guinea pig is appealing his conviction on the grounds of mental illness.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, was convicted and sentenced to a maximum 16 months jail in July on 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
The New Zealand-born financier used his company credit card to purchase the animals before torturing them to death and dumping their corpses in and around his inner-city office building.
Many had been bludgeoned with enough force to smash bone, almost completely shattering their skulls and rupturing the eyes from their sockets.
Some bore signs of sexual interference.
McMahon unsuccessfully argued he should be found not guilty on mental health grounds, claiming he was smoking $250 worth of ice every three days leading up to the crimes.
This habit, combined with his long-standing addiction to cannabis, induced a state of "florid" psychosis in which McMahon was unable to determine the wrongfulness of his actions, his treating psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt told the sentencing magistrate.
McMahon's barrister Douglas Marr yesterday appealed his conviction to the District Court, arguing that sentencing magistrate Ian Barnett had erred in rejecting the mental health defence, finding the psychosis was self-induced. | Source: The Border Mail - Oct 27, 2006
Update posted on Oct 27, 2006 - 10:33AM |
A Sydney financier who used his company's credit card to buy rabbits and a guinea pig before torturing and mutilating them has been jailed for at least a year.
In Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court today, Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, was convicted and imprisoned on 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty over the mutilation deaths in July and August last year.
Tipped off by a worker in McMahon's Sydney office building, police found the first of the animals badly decaying in the bin of the men's toilets on July 20.
The three rabbits had been bludgeoned with enough force to smash bone, with their skulls almost completely shattered.
Over the ensuing months, police found 14 more rabbits and a guinea pig in and around the York Street address.
All appeared to have been tortured and mutilated - their heads smashed so severely their eyes were ruptured and hung from the sockets.
Magistrate Ian Barnett said some bore signs of sexual interference, others had their abdomens cut open and intestines pulled out, or their heads and limbs severed.
Police traced the animals back to several Sydney pet shops. Staff said they sold the rabbits to a man matching McMahon's description.
A check of his company credit card records revealed an extensive number of pet shop purchases.
McMahon said he was smoking $250 worth of methamphetamine, or ice, every two days in the months leading up to, and during, the crimes.
Combined with a long-standing addiction to cannabis, McMahon said he was suffering psychosis so severe he believed what he was doing was right.
But Mr Barnett rejected McMahons's application to mount a mental health defence, arguing his intoxication was self-induced.
He jailed the New Zealand-born man for a maximum of 16 months, with a non-parole period of 12 months.
"This is a matter where, in my view, there is community outrage ... that someone should not be allowed to commit such offences of aggravated cruelty upon animals and then say `well, I was using ice at the time, I have been taking cannabis most of my life. I'm sorry'," Mr Barnett told the court.
"My view is there needs to be a fairly large message sent to the community, by way of general deterrence, that this is not acceptable."
"It was, in my view, obviously one of the worst-case scenarios of aggravated cruelty to animals."
The RSPCA said the case was among the worst it had seen.
"This was quite severe given the systematic abuse of these animals," RSPCA Inspector Flett Turner said outside court.
"It was obviously a slow and callous, torturous act."
"This will send a clear message to all the community that animal cruelty is not to be tolerated within NSW ... and no excuse will be accepted."
With time already served, McMahon will be eligible for parole in May 2007. | Source: The Advertiser - July 3, 2006
Update posted on Jul 4, 2006 - 10:59PM |
A Sydney financier accused of mutilating 17 rabbits and a guinea pig suffered from drug-triggered psychosis and believed he was on a universal mission to save animals and set them free, a court has been told.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, is facing 18 charges of aggravated animal cruelty and two of possessing cannabis. The dead or severely injured animals were allegedly found in and around Mr McMahon's office in Sydney's York Street in August 2005.
Treating psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt today told Downing Centre Local Court that Mr McMahon was suffering from a psychosis triggered by taking the drug ice over a period of eight months. Mr McMahon did not realise his actions were wrong, Dr Allnutt said.
Dr Allnutt said the New Zealand-born man was predisposed to the psychotic condition, with a history of bipolar disorder in his family, and had developed mystical beliefs about animals as early as 2003.
"(Mr McMahon held the) belief that he was some sort of tool for the universe to save animals and to set them free," Dr Allnutt told the court. "In my view, that was a delusional belief. "His capacity to reason about the rightfulness and wrongfulness (of his actions) was significantly compromised by his delusional belief that he was placed on the earth for a special purpose and that purpose was to free the animals." Dr Allnutt said in a consultation he had with Mr McMahon in December 2005 his condition had improved but the illogical thoughts continued. "Brendan said to me 'I wonder if I made a mistake because I never actually asked the rabbits first if I could kill them'," Dr Allnutt said.
Mr McMahon's barrister Douglas Marr is, under mental health provisions, arguing his capacity to reason was so diminished Mr McMahon did not know what he was doing was wrong.
Magistrate Ian Barnettlater reserved his decision on the charges until July 3, 2006. He allowed bail to continue for Mr McMahon. | Source: The Daily Telegraph - May 23, 2006
Update posted on May 31, 2006 - 10:55PM |
A Sydney-based financier accused of the mutilation deaths of 17 rabbits and a guinea pig has failed to persuade a magistrate to deal with his case under the Mental Health Act.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, is charged with 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and two counts of possessing cannabis.
The dead or severely injured rabbits and guinea pig were allegedly found in and around McMahon's office in Sydney's York Street in July and early August last year.
McMahon today lost a second bid to have his case dealt with under the Mental Health Act, after seeking to have the charges dismissed on mental health grounds at a local court hearing in December.
At that hearing, the court was told McMahon believed he could communicate non-verbally with animals through a "third eye''.
Forensic psychiatrist Stephen Allnutt told Chief Magistrate Helen Syme that when he communicated in this way "he would feel a 'joy' in his heart''.
McMahon believed "that his interaction with the rabbits was of value to nature ... he developed a belief that he was in some way a 'tool of nature' and that his purpose was to release captured animals,'' Dr Allnutt said in written evidence.
That hearing was told McMahon began buying rabbits from pet shops, experiencing a "buzz'' when he released them into Sydney's Hyde Park.
In Downing Centre Local Court today, barrister Douglas Marr asked Magistrate Ian Barnett to re-examine the matter following changes to the Mental Health Act.
Mr Marr said his client had a "disease of the mind'' and was smoking the drug "ice'' on a daily basis in the months leading up to the alleged offences.
"My client was clearly suffering from psychosis at the time of the alleged offences, such that he had a disease of the mind, such that the defence of insanity applies,'' Mr Marr told the court.
"The court has no alternative but to discharge the defendant by finding him not guilty by reason of mental illness.''
Mr Barnett dismissed the application.
"In view of the serious nature of these charges, and the fact that this applicant clearly is not now suffering from a disability ... it would be a matter I would not deal with under section 32 (of the Mental Health Act) and the matter is dismissed,'' he said.
The matter has been adjourned until May 23, when Mr Allnutt is again expected to give evidence. | Source: Sydney MOrning Herald - March 7, 2006
Update posted on Mar 6, 2006 - 8:39PM |
Prosecutors have dropped one charge against a Sydney man accused of torturing to death a number of rabbits and a guinea pig.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 36, is charged with 18 courts of aggravated animal cruelty.
Prosecutors have today withdrawn one charge of bestiality.
In the Downing Centre Local Court, McMahon's bail was continued. He will return to court next month for a hearing to determine if he was mentally ill at the time of the offences in July and August. | Source: ABC News - Nov 24, 2005
Update posted on Nov 27, 2005 - 6:56PM |
A former Auckland man, charged with animal cruelty and bestiality, failed to meet his bail conditions because he was too depressed to leave his house, a Sydney court has been told.
Brendan Francis McMahon, 37, appeared in Parramatta Local Court on Saturday after failing to report to police as required by the courts on Thursday.
McMahon is on bail on 21 charges, including aggravated cruelty to animals, bestiality and drug possession.
Police alleged when he was arrested in August that 17 dead or dying rabbits and a dead guinea pig were found near his central Sydney office between July and early August.
McMahon was put under surveillance after central Sydney pet store staff noticed he had marks consistent with rabbit scratches on his face when he sought to purchase batches of the animals.
The court was told yesterday that McMahon was too depressed to report to police.
He was granted bail again and will appear in court again on Wednesday. | Source: Stuff.co.nz - Nov 21, 2005
Update posted on Nov 21, 2005 - 1:26PM |
| According to sources, McMahon is scheduled for a court appearance on November 24th for a plea. | | Update posted on Nov 15, 2005 - 3:28PM |
McMahon appeared briefly in a Sydney court today. Brendan McMahon, 36, fronted Downing Centre Local Court today to answer more than 30 charges. In addition to the charges of animal cruelty and bestiality, he also faces two counts of possessing cannabis.
The New Zealander, from Tamarama in Sydney's east, was arrested after the bodies of between 40 and 50 rabbits were discovered in a lane beside his city office in August.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Helen Syme continued Mr McMahon's bail and ordered him to reappear in the same court on November 10. | Source: News.com.au - Oct 13, 2005
Update posted on Oct 13, 2005 - 7:13PM |
A company director on Aug 19 promised not go anywhere near a pet shop if a court would release him on bail as he awaits multiple bestiality charges. But Brendan Francis McMahon, 36, remains in custody pending a mental health assessment.
McMahon, of Sydney's Tamarama, was charged with 18 charges of aggravated animal cruelty involving 17 rabbits and a guinea pig, one count of bestiality and two of possessing cannabis.
He would also be charged with six new bestiality offences relating to rabbits before his next court appearance, Sydney's Central Local Court was told.
Magistrate Allan Moore said he was unwilling to release McMahon before a full psychiatric report was done.
McMahon's lawyer, Douglas Marr, said he needed to be released to see a psychiatrist privately.
He said McMahon had suffered serious mental health problems brought on by the use of the illegal amphetamine, "ice".
"He was suffering a serious mental health problem involved with the drug use and it appears he is in need of psychiatric help."
Mr Marr also said McMahon had benefited from being off drugs while in custody and that he intended never to use them again.
Mr Marr said his client could offer $5000 surety and would promise not to go within 50m of a pet shop if granted bail.
However, Mr Moore denied bail pending a psychiatric report and he was remanded to September 30. | Source: The Courier Mail - Aug 20, 2005
Update posted on Aug 21, 2005 - 2:17PM |
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