How to tame a snake
’You handle it a lot,’ says fined reptile fan
THE brother of a Gold Coast millionaire had an imported leopard gecko in his home because a documentary by David Attenborough said it was okay, a court was told.
Luke Tomlinson, who was shot in the leg in a robbery in Ashmore last year, also had a boa constrictor he claimed as “tame”.
Tomlinson, the older brother of millionaire businessman Sean, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court yesterday to two counts of possessing a restricted reptile.
Tomlinson is also the son of Owen who brought the former National Basketball League team the Gold Coast Blaze to town.
Magistrate Pamela Dowse fined Tomlinson $5000 for owning the snake and leopard gecko.
She was incredulous when Tomlinson told her the snake was “tame”.
“How do you tame a snake?” Ms Dowse asked.
Tomlinson replied: “You handle it a lot.”
Ms Dowse said: “Poor snake.”
The maximum penalty for owning a restricted reptile is $133,000 or one year in jail.
Crown prosecutor Sergeant Manon Barwick said police found the reptiles when they searched Tomlinson’s luxury waterfront mansion in Paradise Point about 4.20pm on July 30, last year.
The boa constrictor and leopard gecko were taken into the custody of Biosecurity Queensland.
Tomlinson’s lawyer Jason Jacobson, of Jacobson Mahony Lawyers, said Tomlinson was in hospital during the search, recovering from the robbery.
He has his leg amputated below the knee.
“He thought the lizard was okay because he watched a David Attenborough documentary,” he said.
Mr Jacobson said Tomlinson thought he had permits for the boa constrictor but had been unable to find them.