By Rachel Tiffen
A Marlborough builder who has admitted his part in clubbing 23 seals to death near Kaikoura late last year has been sent to jail for two years.
Jason Godsiff, 20, explained his actions by telling a probation officer he thought seals were pests and wanted to get rid of a few of them.
Ten of the seals Godsiff killed were pups – some of whom had laid dying for days.
In sentencing him today, Judge Ian Mill said jail was the only option. The killing was premeditated, he said, on an unprecedented scale.
“A weapon was used to bludgeon the seals to death, inflicting crushed skulls and opened wounds on them. In my view, these were vulnerable victims, no match for you at night on land, when you were armed,” Judge Mill said.
Armed with a galvanised pipe and wearing a headlamp, Godsiff had waited for darkness.
Judge Mill said he simply didn’t believe Godsiff didn’t know seals were protected by law.
“It’s also hard to believe that they were just pests in your mind that you could just club to death without any regard for them or their suffering.”
The killing happened at Ohau Point last November, when Godsiff and his alleged accomplice Jemaal Large, 36, were contracted builders at a North Canterbury salmon farm. The hatchery has categorically told 3 News they knew nothing about it.
The Department of Conservation says the colony seems to have bounced back and its staff – and locals – are on guard for trouble, keeping a very close eye on the sanctuary.
Large, who has elected to go to trial, is due in Blenheim District Court next week.
3 News