Judge lets bunny killer off with scolding

Paul Walton
CanWest News Service
Thursday, September 23, 2004

NANAIMO -- An 18-year-old man who, in a drunken rage, punched a rabbit at the University of Victoria, has been spared a criminal record.

Nicholas Campbell, now a second-year student at UVic, pleaded guilty in Nanaimo provincial court Wednesday to causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal in the Feb. 6 incident. He was given an absolute discharge.

"After drinking too much . . . Mr. Campbell and another young man came up with the idea of catching a rabbit in a blanket," said defence lawyer Ron Lamperson. The bunny bit Campbell as it was caught, and Campbell punched it.

Crown counsel Ron Parsons said the incident came to light when a student crossing the campus about 11:30 p.m. saw Campbell punch the animal.

A veterinarian tried to save the rabbit, but it died. An SPCA spokesman said at the time the charge was laid that the rabbit was pregnant.

The Crown and defence agreed an absolute discharge was appropriate for Campbell, a young man with an ambition to be a lawyer. Lamperson said "humiliating" publicity about the charge and remorse shown by Campbell should result in the discharge.

Parsons said that had the punch immediately killed the rabbit, there would have been no charge. The law on animal cruelty cites "unnecessary suffering" as the required element.

A pre-sentence report referred to by Parsons and Lamperson concluded that Campbell has no violent tendencies.

Judge Leo Nimsick agreed to the absolute discharge, but scolded Campbell. "It may have seemed innocent at the time, but the rabbit did what rabbits will do," said Nimsick. "What goes around comes around, and I think you've paid for your actions."

Campbell, accompanied to court by his parents and grandparents, said nothing during the hearing. The case was heard in Nanaimo as it was more convenient for Campbell, whose lawyer is from that city.