Teenager fined thousands of dollars for unlawful huntingAlden Williams An 18-year-old has admitted to taking meth and attempting to illegally hunt on private and DOC-owned land near Murchison in Tasman. Alex Jack O'Connor pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful hunting, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of methamphetamine utensils in the Nelson District Court on Monday. Judge Tony Zohrab fined O'Connor $4000, plus court costs, for the unlawful hunting charge, and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the $1500 firearm, the $5000 thermal image monocular, as well as the other hunting equipment. A law change in November 2013 saw the maximum penalty for unlawful hunting increase from a maximum $500 to a maximum $100,000 fine, and two years imprisonment. Johnston said the reason the government uplifted the fine and period of imprisonment was because unlawful hunting was becoming "quite prevalent" and was dangerous.

Source: Stuff April 24, 2018 04:07 UTC