Teens deny killing sheep

Three 17-year-olds have denied being responsible for the savage killing of a sheep on Mt Maunganui at the weekend. Mitchell Anthony Herbert, electrician, Matthew Ronald Ludolph, builder, and Blake John Kerridge, occupation unknown, all of Auckland, appeared in Tauranga District Court on animal cruelty and disorderly behaviour charges. Police alleged that on Sunday night the three kicked the sheep and beat it with a stick, then threw fireworks at it. They lit other fireworks in its mouth, which apparently blew off its jaw, police said.