A man has admitted carrying out a sex act involving a herring gull that caused unnecessary suffering to the bird, an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
CCTV footage played in court showed David Lee, 40, from Roker Avenue, Sunderland, kneeling down in an alleyway at around 1am, with a wild bird between his legs. He is seen pulling his pants off and appearing to masturbate with the bird close to his groin area while watching pornography on his phone before kicking the bird away and walking off.
Prosecutor Lesley Burgess said: "At around 1am the defendant was seen chasing a gull down the road. The second piece of footage sees the defendant chasing the same bird down the road.
