Justice · Animal cruelty sentenceKalgoorlie dog cruelty: Backpacker gets 12-month suspended prison sentenceWritten November 5, 2026 at 7:39 AM UTCTranscript0:07Bradley Gavin Noson killed a pet Kelpie and received a suspended prison sentence.0:12Prosecutors wanted immediate imprisonment, and the magistrate described the attack0:17as torture.0:18But the sentence doesn't require him to begin an immediate prison term.0:21What led the court to suspend the sentence, and will he now have to leave Australia?0:26Noson pleaded guilty to causing an animal unnecessary harm.0:30The thirty-one-year-old British backpacker was sentenced at Calgary Magistrates0:35Court on November5.0:37The dog he killed was Faith, a one-year-old pet Kelpie.0:41The court imposed twelve months in prison and suspended that term for twelve months.0:46The suspension puts the prison term on hold for that period.0:50Tunison had already spent time in custody while awaiting the outcome.0:55Western Australia's sentencing law allows a court to suspend imprisonment even when1:00it considers a prison term appropriate.1:03A suspended sentence also carries the risk of further court action.1:07If the person commits another offense under the rules for ordinary suspended1:11sentences, a further conviction can bring the sentence back before a court.1:16The new offense must have happened during the suspension period and carry a possible1:21prison penalty.1:22The entire term isn't automatically activated.1:25Nosen had been held in Kalgorly since the September23 attack.1:30He appeared for sentencing by video from Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison and1:35didn't speak during the hearing.1:36Earlier proceedings had concerned Bail, before the guilty plea resolved the charge.1:41Faith briefly regained consciousness before Nosen killed her.1:45The violence continued through several stages, even as his cousin pleaded with him1:50to stop.1:50Nosen had consumed what the court heard was an extreme amount of alcohol with his1:55cousin.1:56He picked Faith up and repeatedly submerged her in water.2:00She lost consciousness and was briefly revived before he beat her to death with a2:05glass bottle.2:06He then tied her body to his motorbike and dragged it through bushland on Calgorly's2:11outskirts.2:12Nowsen repeatedly invited his cousin to join in.2:15His cousin instead asked him to stop and wept uncontrollably as the attack unfolded.2:21Police prosecutor Amy Southall said Noson wanted Faith's owner to see what he'd done2:26to the dog.2:27Faith belonged to someone other than the cousin.2:29Nowsen's connection to her owner was unclear in court.2:33Defense lawyer Anthony Ayers described Newsen as a dog lover whose2:39behavior was out of character.2:41Southall challenged that description, saying these were not the actions of a dog2:46lover.2:46She asked the court to send him straight to prison.2:49Noson had arrived in Australia in April on a working holiday visa.2:53He was living with his aunt and cousin in Calgorly and working as an underground2:58truck driver in the mining industry.3:00Ayers also told the court his client was a university graduate with a computer3:05science degree.3:06Southall called the attack absolutely gratuitous and unnecessary, and described it3:12as shocking behavior.3:14Magistrate Donna Webb said the crime had outraged the public, and compared it with3:18the worst animal cruelty cases seen in Western Australia.3:22Webb described Faith's death as protracted.3:25She said, When I hear these facts, it strikes me more as torture.3:29Beyond comprehension, she rejected alcohol as an explanation, and said Noson3:35appeared incredibly determined to kill the animal.3:38Webb nevertheless suspended the prison term, pointing to Supreme Court decisions in3:43other animal cruelty cases.3:45Those earlier decisions were the explanation she cited for the outcome, despite the3:50prosecution's request for immediate imprisonment and her own severe assessment of3:55the attack.3:56The RSPCA recorded two hundred and fifty-six animal cruelty reports across4:00Goldfield's Esperance last financial year, a rise of twenty-four percent within that4:06region.4:07Kalgorly Boulder accounted for121 reports, up twenty percent.4:12The figures cover welfare reports across the community.4:15The RSPCA said ninety percent involved dogs or puppies with insufficient care, food,4:21water, or shelter.4:22In a separate Perth case the previous week, a puppy farmer who kept more than a4:26hundred dogs in appalling conditions was sent to prison.4:30Ayers said Noson was likely to be deported.4:32No government decision requiring him to leave Australia has been announced.4:36His criminal sentence has been imposed, while his immigration future remains4:41unresolved.Read the articleStory timelineHeyDex
