Local News

Battered pigeon anyone?

04/12/09 - 0 comments

It's not your typical nibble, but teenager Raphael Thomas was inspired by Ray Mears survival and fancied a bit of pigeon.

Thomas went about his hunt for game in a rather unorthodox manor however, choosing to club the pigeon with a skateboard before wringing it's neck.

Having dispatched the beast and put it in his backpack to take home to roast, he was approached by a police officer who had been pointed his way by a friendly passer by who'd obviously taken offence to the dispatching of the bird.

To be fair, he did hit it with a skateboard, in the middle of the city centre, next to the church in the Guildhall, although his biggest mistake was probably telling the policeman who approached him "I killed the pigeon."

Brought up on the continent and in Wales where they eat a variety of wild meats, Thomas was at a loss to what the problem was.

In the end he was charged with intentionally killing a wild bird contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, given a three-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay the £85 court costs, having been lightly grilled for 10 hours in police custody.

After the hearing Thomas said "I feel ripped off. I could have bought several pigeons for that."

Indeed you could. We found them online for less than £3 each, so he could have got nearly 30 of the flying rats to fry up.

More information

0 Comments - Add a comment

Latest related articles