An Australian man who broke into a stable to sexually abuse a horse claimed that the animal gave him the go-ahead by nuzzling his crotch and winking.
Daniel Webb-Jackson, 31, pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty relating the incident, which took place in Grafton, New South Wales, on 22 January.
Suspicious staff had already installed CCTV cameras in the stables after a series of disturbances in the past month. Alerted to an intrusion by the cameras, a trainer saw Webb-Jackson opening stable doors and called the police.
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“Police found Webb-Jackson crouching in the corner of a fourth open stable, where he was arrested after a short scuffle with police and taken to Grafton police station,” local newspaper The Daily Examiner reports.
There, he admitted that he had committed two sex acts with a two-year-old filly. He reportedly told police that he had broken into the stables to “to chill out and have oral and digital sex with a horse and masturbate”, the Queensland-based Morning Bulletin reports.
He argued that he believed that the horse had consented because she “smelt his crotch and winked at him”, says News.com.au.
The court was not convinced, handing Webb-Jackson a jail term of ten months and a AUS$700 (£400) fine for animal cruelty.
The horse’s trainer said that the animal’s temperament had changed radically since the incident, which had interfered with a promising racing career.
“The filly went from being quiet to just being highly strung, she changed in 24 hours. We had to put her in the paddock to try and get her head right,” he said, calling Webb-Jackson’s crimes “really sick stuff”.
