An Australian man who deliberately swerved to kill two kangaroos with his ute after drinking with his mates has been spared a stint in prison.
Leo Boland drove his mother's Holden ute at speed and ran over two kangaroos while his passenger filmed the whole ordeal.
The 21-year-old from Balgowlah Heights in Sydney's northern beaches was sentenced on Thursday after killing the kangaroos on a dirt road at Running Stream, about 200km northwest of Sydney, in July 2024.
Manly Local Court magistrate Daniel Reiss rejected Boland's pleas to escape conviction and said the facts of the case were "disturbing".
Boland deliberately swerved the car at high speed to kill the national icons even as they attempted to escape.
He then stopped the car near the dead body of one of the kangaroos, the agreed facts of the case state.
Boland's lawyer cast the incident as a "moment of complete foolishness" and the young man should not be convicted, due to the embarrassment he felt.
Both Boland and his mother have been subjected to an "enormous amount of vile abuse on Facebook", Ben Clark said.
That argument was dismissed by the magistrate.
The fact the 21-year-old ran down the kangaroos knowing his passenger was filming indicated he was happy to do it and for the possibility the footage would be published, Reiss said.
Boland's drinking earlier in the day with a group of friends also elevated the seriousness of the offence, the magistrate said.
"Young men, alcohol, stupidity – not a good mix," Reiss said.
In August, Boland pleaded guilty to one charge of recklessly beating and injuring an animal while another charge of torturing an animal was withdrawn.
He also pleaded guilty to having lied to police when he told them he did not know who was driving or in the passenger seat when the animals were killed.
Boland's denials came two weeks after police had already seized the phone of the passenger and obtained the videos of the brutal rampage, which were also posted on social media.
Lying to the police about driving the car despite knowing he was being filmed was also a factor in the magistrate's decision to convict.
Reiss expressed confusion about why Boland initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of lying, especially because alcohol was not a factor as it was during the kangaroo killing.
He ordered the young man to serve 200 hours of community service and be of good behaviour for 18 months.
Boland must also pay a total fine of AU$1500 (NZ$1703).
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