Vic: Abalone "pirate" loses appeal against jail term

AAP General News (Australia)
08-08-2005
Vic: Abalone "pirate" loses appeal against jail term

MELBOURNE, Aug 8 AAP - A notorious Melbourne abalone poacher today lost his appeal
against an 18-month maximum jail term.

David Strachan, of East Brighton, was sentenced to 18 months' jail last year for selling
690kg, or about 6,525 individual illegally-poached abalone, to an undercover fisheries
officer.

In doing so, he breached a 10-year prohibition from possessing even a single abalone,
a highly sought-after seafood delicacy particularly popular in Asian cuisine.

During the appeal hearing, Strachan's lawyer Philip Dunn QC said his client had given
up the game after the birth of twins in March this year and was suffering a psychological
condition similar to bi-polar disorder.

"He has been a serious pirate of the sea, but the pirate has hung up his flag because
the game is not worth the candle any more," he told the Victorian County Court.

But Judge Margaret Rizkalla today reimposed the sentence handed to Strachan in the
Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

"The Crown submits that taking into account your appalling history in relation to the
removal illegally of abalone from Victorian and Tasmanian waters and your constant disregard
for court orders ... that this court could not do anything other than impose a term of
imprisonment," she said.

Judge Rizkalla reimposed the maximum 18-month jail sentence, with a minimum of 10 months,
$27,380 in costs and a $24,080 pecuniary penalty order.

Strachan must also forfeit a boat used in one of the offences.

Victoria and Tasmania are two of the last viable abalone habitats in the world, but
even there the species is threatened and fishing is strictly regulated through licences.

When he sold the abalone in the middle of 2003, Strachan had only just been released
from jail after serving a nine-month sentence and had a further suspended sentence hanging
over him from a previous conviction in June 2002.

AAP mj/gfr/evt

KEYWORD: STRACHAN

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