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BRISBANE - A man has been jailed for stealing a pet goat and killing it during a satanic ritual on a church altar.
Scott Peter Romano, 28, of the Brisbane suburb of Runcorn, will spend the next four months behind bars for what Brisbane District Court Judge Kerry O'Brien today described as a "completely senseless" act.
The court was told the offence took place on Friday, October 13, 2006, after Romano and a group of friends had been drinking heavily at a party in Bellbowrie, in Brisbane's west.
Prosecutor Jacob Robson said the group drove to a nearby property and abducted a goat, which they loaded into the boot of a car and took to the Bellbowrie Community Church.
The court was told the group broke into the church and led the goat - which had been bought as a pet for a 15-year-old girl - to the altar, where they slit its throat in a satanic ritual.
The court was told Romano then decapitated the goat, later telling police it was because he could no longer bear to watch it suffer.
The group took the head and drove to a nearby convenience store to buy a disposable camera, which they used to take photos of themselves performing lewd acts with the head.
Police later found the camera at co-offender Tracey Lee Arnold's home, as well as the head which had been stored in her kitchen freezer.
Arnold was sentenced to two years probation last year for her role in the offence.
Romano today also pleaded guilty to one count each of stealing stock, breaking and entering premises, and injuring an animal.
Defence barrister Steve Kissick told the court his client's behaviour was "entirely out of character", and that he had volunteered to buy a new goat for the owner.
Judge O'Brien said the offence warranted actual jail time as Romano was of an age where he "ought to have sufficient maturity and common sense to know that this sort of conduct is unacceptable".
Judge O'Brien sentenced Romano to 12 months jail but fixed an August 10 parole release date.
- AAP
