A Marlborough teenager has been sentenced to two years in prison after clubbing to death 23 seals in Kaikoura last year.
Jason Trevor Godsiff, 19, of Renwick, admitted a charge in Blenheim District Court of wilfully ill-treating the seals by beating them to death.
He was sentenced this morning (Tuesday) by Judge Ian Mill.
The fur seals were beaten to death with a steel pole at Ohau Point, north of Kaikoura, late last year, the court was told.
Some of the dead seals were just a few days old. Other seals were injured, suggesting they too had been hit.