The son of a farmer who shot dead a NSW environment officer has been fined $405,000 for clearing land in the months leading up to and days after the murder.
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Grant Wesley Turnbull pleaded guilty to clearing thousands of native trees on the NSW north coast property, near Moree, between January and August, 2014.
His father, Ian Turnbull, died earlier this year while serving a 35-year sentence for shooting dead Glen Turner, 51, and detaining his colleague, Robert Strange, on July 29, 2014.
The two NSW environment officers had been carrying out compliance work near the property at Croppa Creek before the incident.
For more than 20 minutes Ian Turnbull held the men at gunpoint, accusing Mr Turner of persecuting the Turnbull family, despite them having never met.
Two days after the incident, a tractor or bulldozer was observed at the property moving large amounts of felled trees into 10 to 20 piles, several of which were ablaze, according to court documents.
Grant Turnbull purchased the property in January 2012 with the intention of clearing native vegetation to convert it from primarily grazing animals to growing commercial crops.
On Friday, the Land and Environment Court ordered he pay the fine as well as the prosecution's legal costs.
In 2017, Grant Turnbull and his nephew Cory Ian Turnbull were hit with fines exceeding $700,000 for clearing native vegetation on their properties in 2012.
In 2020, Ian Turnbull's widow Robeena and son Grant, were ordered to pay $4.25 million to his victim's family and to the colleague who witnessed the killing.
Australian Associated Press
