A man who carried out a ‘deliberate and gratuitous’ sex act whilst holding a baby seagull and looking at animal porn has been jailed.
David Lee, 40, appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court today (June 21) having admitted at a previous hearing to causing unnecessary suffering to the herring gull.
The court heard that Lee, of Roker Avenue, Sunderland, was caught on CCTV cameras at around 1am on August 18 last year chasing one bird before later picking up a smaller gull.
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link
Cameras then caught him in a nearby back alley looking at his phone while holding the bird between his legs and masturbating. Lesley Burgess, prosecuting, said: “This was a deliberate and gratuitous act that caused suffering.”
Describing the incident, she added: “The defendant runs down the street trying to chase a seagull. The footage then goes to the back alley and we see the defendant with a different, younger, baby gull in his arms.
“We then see the defendant take his phone out of his pocket and puts it on a box. He thereafter takes his trousers down, kneels down and it is very clear he is masturbating.
“He then goes on to move the gull between his legs. For a time the defendant is engaging in a sexual act with the baby seagull.”
Ms Burgess said that when he had finished, Lee put the gull down, gave it a “small kick” to shoo it away and walked off in the opposite direction.
Today, Lee was handed an immediate 24-week jail term and was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
The court also heard that the incident became known to police a local resident checked her CCTV cameras and saw what happened. Lee, who was traced to a nearby takeaway, tried to tell police that he found the bird and picked it up because it was injured, and used his phone to find a vet.
But Ms Burgess said: “Police took the phone and it was very clear he was accessing animal porn at the time.”
Ms Burgess said the crown obtained expert evidence from a vet who said the footage showed “the bird will have been caused unnecessary suffering by the act that the defendant did”.
In a victim statement which was read to the court, the woman who saw the offence on her CCTV said: “For almost a year the actions of this person have caused me a lot of mental stress and anxiety.
“I am still haunted by what he did. I am unable to get his horrendous actions out of my head.
“I sincerely hope the sentence today gives justice for the bird he defiled and for people like myself who were traumatised when they saw what he did, and it is a deterrent for anyone else who thinks animal abuse is acceptable.”
Annalisa Moscardini, defending, said Lee was a heavy drinker who experienced blackouts. “He accepts he must have done this act but he didn’t have a good recollection of it,” she said in explanation of his initial denials. “To some extent he cannot explain what happened.”
A psychiatric report found he suffered from an unstable personality disorder and was detached from reality. He was also a pathological liar whose lies served no purpose, the court heard.
Angela Thompson, chairman of the bench, said: “We find this is a deliberate attempt to cause suffering and a high level of suffering was caused.”
Anna Malia, of North East Animal Rights, attended court and, after the hearing, she said herring gulls were increasingly rare and have additional protection.
“Because of the sexual nature of this crime, it has received significant attention in the local press with many jokes being made about it,” she said.
“But it is not funny or a subject to be joked about or mocked.”
Lee arrived at court by bike and it was taken away for safekeeping after he was jailed. As during the previous hearing in April, seagulls on the roof of the court screeched noisily during the sentencing.
