Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Darren Weir has expressed his intention to plead guilty to charges of animal cruelty by way of using an electric shock device on three horses while they ran on a treadmill on the eve of the 2018 Cup.
Weir, former trainer Jarrod McLean and stablehand Tyson Kermond faced the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Wednesday and their lawyers expressed the trio’s intent to plead guilty to all animal cruelty charges, as part of a deal under which more serious criminal charges of conspiracy were dropped in October.
Darren Weir has pleaded guilty to charges of animal cruelty.Credit:Jason South
The particulars of all animal cruelty charges against the trio were reworded from “torture” to “abuse” at the start of the hearing. Weir also intends to plead guilty to a firearms charge, while McLean intends to plead guilty to a cocaine possession charge.
The magistrate stood the court down temporarily on Wednesday as the wording of all charges was clarified.
Weir was disqualified from racing for four years in February 2019 for possession of four electric shock devices, after police raided his Warrnambool and Ballarat stables in the early hours of January 30, 2019.
He is eligible to reapply for his licence in February next year, and Weir’s lawyer Tony Hargreaves told The Age last month that the 2015 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer “hopes to return to horse racing” again.
“Training racehorses has been a very important part of Darren’s life, and he’s very keen to resume it,” Hargreaves said.
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