Collie man Michael John Strahan avoids jail over bail breaches, breaching suspended jail term

A Collie man has avoided jail despite failing to appear at court on several occasions while subject to a suspended prison term for starving his pet dogs. Michael John Strahan appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court via videolink from Bunbury Regional Prison on Thursday where he was placed on another conditional suspended imprisonment order and fined $800 after pleading guilty to two counts of breaching his bail. The court was told Strahan, who faces allegations of sexual assault that is pending trial in the District Court, breached his bail conditions by failing to appear in the Bunbury Magistrate’s Court on two occasions in May and June this year. After failing to appear on May 5, the court was advised in Strahan’s absence that he had been unwell with glandular fever. However, an arrest warrant was issued after no medical certificate was provided to prove Strahan was unwell. A month later, on June 2, Strahan failed to appear at the Bunbury Courthouse once again, claiming he was unwell despite failing to provide a medical certificate. A further arrest warrant was issued and Strahan had been remanded in custody since then. At the time of offending, Strahan was subject to an eight-month prison term that was conditionally suspended for 12 months after he was convicted of two charges of animal cruelty by way of failing to provide sufficient food or water to his and ex-partner Chelsea Carstairs’ pet dogs. The court was told RSPCA inspectors received a complaint from a neighbour of the former couple on May 9, 2019, complaining about two dogs that were severely malnourished and had been in that state for five months. A week later, inspectors travelled to their Jones Street home in Collie and found an underweight female staffy-cross dog, named Lily, in the backyard with her hip, ribcage and spine prominent, but did not see a second dog. Inspectors also observed empty and dry food and water bowls at the property. When they managed to gain access to the property after contacting Shire of Collie rangers and Strahan, they were told a male staffy-cross dog, named Charlie, was at the property but had died some time before due to weight issues. A medical examination of Lily conducted by Collie Veterinary Services found she had a body condition score of zero due to “drastic underfeeding” likely caused by neglect while a post-mortem examination of Charlie found he was also severely malnourished and was was likely to have died of asphyxiation by overfeeding on feed pellets. The court was told Lily was able to recover and was sent to a foster home, pending permanent adoption. After Magistrate Linda Keane asked Community Corrections how Strahan fared on his suspended imprisonment order, the court was told that while Strahan attended eight counselling sessions, he sporadically attended for supervision. In submissions, Strahan’s defence counsel Michael Devlin told the court his client had turned himself in to police the day after the two arrest warrants were issued and it would be unjust to trigger the eight-month prison term because the offending was unrelated nor similar to the animal cruelty convictions. In sentencing, Ms Keane told Strahan he had “numerous opportunities” to appear in court, knowing that it was part of his bail obligations but he came up with excuses to avoid appearing. “You weren’t taking it seriously,” she said. “It got to the point where the court had enough of your disrespect.” In relation to the animal cruelty convictions, Ms Keane said it was “awful to think what those dogs had suffered” while Strahan neglected to provide them with food and water.