An Australian man has been jailed for having sex with a horse. Daniel Webb-Jackson, 31 broke into a stables in Grafton, New South Wales and was caught on CCTV abusing the animal. The man was caught in January after the trainer installed CCTV cameras in the stables following a string of disturbances in the previous month. He told the court that the two-year-old filly gave him consent by smelling his crotch and winking at him.

Webb-Jackson pleaded not guilty to committing an act of cruelty to an animal when he broke into the stables. When Webb-Jackson broke into the stables, he triggered an alarm and was subsequently spotted on camera by the horse trainer opening a number of stalls. Police were called and they found the man hiding in the corner of the fourth open stall. He was arrested after a short scuffle with police and taken to the Grafton police station.

The animal's trainer told the the Magistrate's Court that the filly had been left 'traumatised' by the incident. The unarmed trainer said he was preparing to race the horse but her behaviour had changed dramatically since the abuse. "She is only a little two-year-old and we had to put her out in the paddock," the trainer said. "The filly went from being quiet to just being highly strung, she changed in 24 hours. We had to put her in the paddock to try and get her head right. You don't want to see this sort of thing happening, it's really sick stuff."

Magistrate Karen Stafford convicted Webb-Jackson and jailed him for 10 months and fined him 700 Australian dollars. She said the two sexual acts - allowing a horse to fellate Webb-Jackson and digitally penetrating the horse - amounted to acts of cruelty. He will be eligible for release next week because of time already served in jail. Webb-Jackson dodged a charge of bestiality, which in NSW can land a person in prison for up to 14 years.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 10:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).