Supreme Court grants spent conviction for Hamilton Hill woman’s birdfeeding-related charge, reduces fine

A carer whose bird-feeding habits landed her in trouble accused of causing a rodent infestation has had a win in the Supreme Court, with her fine reduced and her wish for a spent conviction granted.

The Hamilton Hill woman, who PerthNow has chosen not to name, was found guilty by a Fremantle magistrate in March for contravening the City of Cockburn’s Health and Local Laws Act.

She was fined $650 and ordered to pay costs of $2500.

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According to the prosecution’s initial case, the woman’s choice to scatter birdseed in her backyard during an eight-month period of 2022 caused a “rodent infestation” in the area, with “several dead rats” found within a seven-month period.

But in a Supreme Court judgment on September 22, Justice Matthew Howard described the penalty as “manifestly excessive”.

The 52-year-old woman wrote to the Fremantle Magistrates Court on November 15 last year to enter an endorsed plea of not guilty and explain why she was denying the offence.

In her appeal, it was said the magistrate had issued a fine disproportionate to the criminality and a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred when the trial was not adjourned.

It was also said the woman was a first offender, had lived a “blameless” life and was on a carer pension earning only $22,000 a year.

She reportedly cares full-time for her ageing father who has vascular dementia and her work was “all-consuming”, leading to problems sleeping.

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