By Esther Lauaki
A Hillside man who stole a rare snake from a reptile display in Melbourne has been convicted and fined.
Matthew Gatt, 23, appeared before a Melbourne Magistrate last Thursday and pleaded guilty to theft and possessing protected wildlife. He was fined $8000 with conviction.
The court was told that Gatt stole a two-year-old carpet python from a display at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in December. He snatched the animal soon after he posed for photos with three snakes over his shoulders.
Police found the reptile in an enclosure at Gatt’s home three weeks after it was taken.
Magistrate Denise Livingstone described his offending as “amazingly stupid”.
“It is an outrageous offence and it is committed over a period of time,” she said.
The snake’s owner, Raymond Hoser, who breeds snakes and uses them for educational displays, told
Star Weekly after the court proceedings said he didn’t sleep for days after the theft, worried about the reptile’s safety. He said the stolen python was “extremely rare” because of large scales on its head and could be worth up to $30,000.
– with The Age
