Tyler Tudor dodges jail time after he chopped a bird to death with his whipper snipper in a brutal killing caught on camera

WARNING: DESCRIPTIONS OF ANIMAL ABUSE

A gardener who brutally killed a nesting plover with a sniper was given a stern hearing by a judge after narrowly escaping a prison sentence.

Tyler Tudor, 31, appeared in Maitland District Court in the Hunter region of New South Wales on Tuesday wearing casual shorts, an Everlast hoodie, a baseball cap and trainers. He had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty.

On November 14 last year, he was hired to mow the lawn of a terminally ill man in nearby Thornton, who alerted Tudor’s employer to the native bird.

However, the warning was not passed on to Tudor, who was captured on CCTV tearing the bird to pieces with the garden tool.

He was then caught stamping on the bird’s head to “put it out of its misery,” before throwing the bird and its eggs into a nearby garbage can.

Magistrate Robyn Richardson revealed the footage did not show Tudor returning to the barely alive bird and stamping on its head again to ensure it was dead.

She threatened Tudor with jail time, but eventually decided against it so he could receive treatment for brain damage he suffered in a motorcycle accident earlier this year.

According to a social media post from a family member, Tudor was in a coma for several weeks after the March 14 accident.

It is believed he has suffered brain damage as a result of the incident, which Judge Richardson said would be best treated in the community rather than behind bars.

This meant his trial had to be postponed until July, after which the footage was posted to social media by the homeowner just days before his death.

A friend of the homeowner told Daily Mail Australia he was devastated by the bird’s death and that the case was taking so long, meaning Tudor would not face any punishment.

A necropsy carried out by RSPCA NSW found the bird was in good health and had ‘recently eaten’ at the time of the incident.

Tudor’s act left the bird with severe broken necks and bleeding inside and out.

Judge Richardson described the facts presented to the court as “confronting and disturbing”.

Tudor was captured on CCTV mowing down the native bird outside a terminally ill man’s home in Thornton in November last year (pictured)

Tyler Tudor (pictured) pleaded guilty in July to one count of aggravated animal cruelty, which carries a maximum sentence of two years.

She also criticised Tudor’s “punitive” version of the incident, in which he claimed he was afraid of the bird and “accidentally” hit it with the snipe.

He claimed he then stamped on the animal’s head twice more to “put it out of its misery.”

The magistrate said that for this act alone, a six-month prison sentence was imposed, a quarter of the maximum sentence possible for this charge.

“The court needs to send a message to the community and Mr Tudor. Such behaviour should never have occurred,” she told the court.

The court took into account that his “extensive” criminal past dates back to 2013, but that he began to distance himself from negative ties in 2020.

The 31-year-old was ordered by Maitland District Court on Tuesday to spend six months in community corrections so he can receive treatment for a brain injury

He suffered the injury after being involved in a ‘very serious’ motorcycle accident in March

The magistrate then had to balance the safety of the community against Tutor’s need for rehabilitation for his brain injury.

She said his rehabilitation in the community was “less likely to be affected” and instead ordered him to undertake a six-month intensive community corrections program.

Part of that order was a ban from the street where the violation had occurred.

The tutor is also not allowed to keep animals for at least five years.

Tutor’s employer told Daily Mail Australia at the time that he had “made arrangements” with the homeowner shortly after he posted the images.