Andrew Quay Wee Meng, Law Student, Repeatedly Stomped Bird Because It Allegedly Scared Him

A 25-year-old law student was sentenced to 120 hours of community service yesterday for repeatedly stomping an ibis to the point that it had to be euthanized after the bird apparently scared him while he was eating a sandwich in Brisbane, Australia.

The Australian reports that Andrew Quay Wee Meng was eating lunch when a bird "snuck up from behind" him and jumped onto his table:

Quay Wee Meng threw his food down, wrestled the bird to the ground and stomped on it five times. The court was told the bird's wing was shattered and a blow to its neck caused it such difficulty in breathing that it had to be put down.

Meng's lawyer explained in his defense that he has had a heightened fear of birds ever since he was "attacked by a large crow," and that this may have provoked the future lawyer's rampage.

But Meng was not given a harsher sentence because of his "youth" and his lack of a criminal past, according to the Australian paper The Herald Sun. The judge also explained that a conviction might keep Meng, who just finished his law degree, from getting a job.

Comments

[DarkTruths]

07:00 PM on 04/04/2011

Awwww..How sad that a conviction for a crime you actually committed would inconvenience you or mess with your future. Let's just start opening the doors and letting those poor guys out of jail before we ruin their future in business.

[Just Cause]

11:11 PM on 03/21/2011

I hope he doesn't have children later that dress up as chickens because daddy has a bird problem. What a bunch of nonsense and the lawyer that defended him should serve time as well. Have some common sense, he went overboard and displayed some pretty creepy behavior. He picked the right profession.

[Beth Alexander]

01:24 PM on 03/20/2011

I have an irrational fear of mice, but when I see one I become mentally paralyzed and freak out. With that kind of fear, I could NEVER grab the thing and wrestle it to the ground then subject it to violence. Does not sound like a reaction provoked by fear at all if you ask me. This guy's defense is simply BS.

[sueinmn]

11:51 AM on 03/20/2011

This guy has serious issues and should not be down played.

[sydthekid]

11:08 AM on 03/20/2011

Another loon out there using "scare defense"...guess he is getting himself ready to represent those people that kill homosexuals claiming they were "fearful" of them. He has to practice his "defense" somewhere. Wonderful, shame a flock of ibis (which are beautiful and NOT scary) can't get together and enact some revenge on this guy.

[butchcliff]

06:21 AM on 03/20/2011

This incident will follow him for his entire career.
Always be known as the guy who stomped the ibis. Who'd hire him?

[hershykershy]

03:38 AM on 03/20/2011

Jail time should have been more appropriate for such a violent attack. Scare my foot! Lame excuse for such violence.

[butchcliff]

07:24 PM on 03/19/2011

Law student? Doesn't understand animal cruelty laws? Guess he missed that class

[C Karen Stopford]

02:06 PM on 03/19/2011

Oh, good. Just the kind of fruitcake I want representing me.

[HSC55]

10:39 AM on 03/19/2011

He is a law student. It sounds like a good defense to claim he had a phobia. But I''ve never heard of a phobic reaction like this. Usually they become paralyzed by fear. Not violent. Does he have any proof of this phobia or is it just a convenient defense he came up with?

[southingtonian]

06:30 AM on 03/19/2011

a 2' tall bird with a 3' wingspan and a 1' long bill landed on his table from behind him unexpectedly, and he had a previous frightening experience of being attacked by a bird. I understand and forgive.

[kareemachan]

01:00 PM on 03/19/2011

If it's the truth.

[Brandon26pdx]

01:31 AM on 03/19/2011

Wow. That's a heart warmer.

[Isenki]

06:01 PM on 03/18/2011

Go to the actual Herald Sun article and read it. It shows the whole story, unlike this shoddy piece of journalism, which is obviously trying to depict the law student as a animal-hating monster.

[TreeHugger09]

07:58 PM on 03/18/2011

Oh, you mean THIS article which is essentially the same article, word for word?

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/man-stomped-on-sandwich-stalking-ibis/story-e6frf7l6-1226022782536

Nope, he still sounds like a jackazz who over-reacted beyond belief... but hey, it's only *Australian* birds he's afraid of now! And YES, I have been injured by animals before so I DO know what it feels like (I grew up on a farm and have been charged by both full-grown dairy cows and a couple of roosters with some very nasty spurs) and NO I'm not terrified of them. I have been bitten by dogs and horses too, and I have no problems with them in the slightest. Perhaps this man is just a bit of a drama-queen?

[KarlaElisa]

02:20 PM on 03/18/2011

a 25 yr old guy was so frightened he GRABBED the bird, wrestled it to the ground and stomped it???

I'm so glad they posted his name. Am hoping for a little karmic retribution for this fellow from the animal rights crowd.

[Mary FitzGerald Holst]

01:47 PM on 03/18/2011

What is wrong with some people,violent tendencies,toward defenseless animals are people next, very scary,there is more to this,he has physiological problems and should be monitored! Sick!

[O Dannyboy]

01:07 AM on 03/19/2011

Yeah I heard of this one family in America that bought a whole pile of chickens which had been hatched and raised and butchered under really barbarous conditions. They actually took the chicken carcasses to a public park, put the poor things on a grill and lit a fire under them. Poked and prodded them over these red-hot coals until their carcasses were literally .... cooked!

But that's not the worst part. Then they sat down and, men, women and children (I swear to God) they put salt on these chicken carcasses and tore them apart with their teeth, chewed up their muscles and skin and swallowed them down. Police report said they washed down each bite with a sip from a glass of instant iced tea.