{"id":86995,"date":"2026-09-03T08:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T08:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86995\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T08:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T08:50:18","slug":"boy-16-sentenced-for-blowing-vape-fumes-in-beak-of-black-swan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/86995\/","title":{"rendered":"Boy, 16, sentenced for blowing vape fumes in beak of black swan"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING: This story contains video and details that may be distressing to some readers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 16-year-old boy who forced a black swan to inhale vape fumes in a video shared on social media has been sentenced to a fourth month community-based order.<\/p>\n

Details of the incident were revealed in the children’s court in Rockingham today, where the teenager pleaded guilty to two charges of causing an animal unnecessary harm.<\/p>\n

The court heard the teen and another boy were travelling in an inflatable boat near Endeavour Island in Mandurah, south of Perth, when they noticed a swan had a fishing lure lodged in its neck.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The boy received a fourth month community-based order.\u00a0 (ABC News: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n

They brought it aboard, where the accused removed the lure, before blowing vapour from his vape into the swan’s beak.<\/p>\n

It is alleged the other boy then slapped the swan across the head.<\/p>\n

That child is yet to enter a plea.<\/p>\n

The boy’s lawyer attempted to have the case heard in a closed court, due to both children having been identified on social media.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

The court heard that identification had caused significant stress and negative impacts to the boy and his family.<\/p>\n

However Magistrate Andr\u00e9e Horrigan said it would be the wrong decision, given it was not the media but members of the public who had identified the child.<\/p>\n

Social media ‘obsession’<\/p>\n

Details of a second animal cruelty charge were also revealed in court, with revelations there were two swans involved, not one as previously reported.<\/p>\n

While one swam close to the boat, the other was allegedly slapped and then became unresponsive.<\/p>\n

The boy’s lawyer told the court he became worried the bird had died.<\/p>\n

The unresponsive swan was discarded by the accused in nearby bushland, with police locating a large carcass and black feathers a number of weeks later.<\/p>\n

“I asked him why on earth he did it and basically he was showing off to his younger friend,” his lawyer told the court.<\/p>\n

“He said it was a really stupid and impulsive thing to do.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The swan appears to be in distress on the boat. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

She also said the boy had an “obsession” with “streaks” on Snapchat, which is when a tally of daily interactions between users on social media is displayed on the app.<\/p>\n

“It became quite daring and excessive,” the lawyer said.<\/p>\n

“He has apologised for his behaviour \u2026 he couldn’t really think about why he had done it. He wishes he could take it back.<\/p>\n

“It’s quite clear the swan died and died unnecessarily, by all accounts.”<\/p>\n

Use of vape ‘extraordinary’<\/p>\n

The court heard the boy had no prior convictions or history with animal cruelty, and had a supportive family and home life.<\/p>\n

In sentencing, Magistrate Horrigan was scathing of the boy’s behaviour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The use of the vape is extraordinary. I don’t know what went through your head to do that,” Magistrate Horrigan said.<\/p>\n

“It’s common knowledge that swans mate for life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The devastation your family has felt by what’s happened here, should also be reflect in what’s happened to this dead swan.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The boy fronted court in Rockingham on Thursday.\u00a0 (ABC News: Pip Waller)<\/p>\n

“At some stage I anticipate how overwhelmed the bird must have become \u2026 unresponsive and lifeless. There’s a dead animal and you had a hand in that.”<\/p>\n

Magistrate Horrigan sentenced the boy to a four month community-based order and urged him to learn from the choices he had made.<\/p>\n

“We all have a personal responsibility. That’s not something you talk about later, it’s something you stop and reflect on.<\/p>\n

“You need to be able to grow up and mature \u2026 this was a graphic, awful error in judgement.”<\/p>\n

Magistrate Horrigan also urged WA police to investigate those who had made commentary online and who identified the accused.<\/p>\n

The boy’s co-accused, who is accused of slapping the swan, will face Mandurah Children’s Court in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WARNING: This story contains video and details that may be distressing to some readers.\u00a0 A 16-year-old boy who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6384,22,21,145259,145258,145260,1328,1327,463,106,5063,22647,464],"class_list":["post-86995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-animal-cruelty","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-black-swan-cruelty","tag-black-swans","tag-boy-vapes-black-swan","tag-news-perth","tag-news-wa","tag-perth-news","tag-social-media","tag-swans","tag-vape","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}