A bird brained thug has been jailed after attacking a stranger on the street with a seagull.
Paul Elcombe, 29, picked up the stunned bird from the middle of a road after it had been clipped by a car in the middle of the night.
Kyle Murray-Towers was left with a broken jaw after Elcombe threw the gull at his head then began kicking and punching him.
Elcombe, of no fixed abode, was walking home after two days drinking and taking drugs when he grabbed the bird and started showing it to customers at Premier Stores in Mutley Plain, Plymouth.
Recorder Timothy Kenefick told the court how Elcombe carried it around the store at 4.50am on Sunday in May 2019 with the victim, reports Plymouth Live.
He said: "You were holding a live seagull and you paraded it around the store, holding the seagull above your head.
"I know that you have said you found it on the street and wanted to save it from being run over.
"After that, the two of you got into a fight. During the course of that you got him on to the ground, you hit him several times to the head and you stamped on his head."
The judge said that Elcombe then whipped his victim around the head close to Goodbody's Cafe.
Recorder Kenefick said: "You had been out for two or three days street-drinking and taking drugs. You were pretty much off your head at the time of this incident."
Plymouth Crown Court heard how Mr Murray-Towers had invited Elcombe to go to his house to take some drugs but told him to hurry up.
It was said that the victim spat at Elcombe and disrespected his late mother.
Prosecutor Jason Beal said: "Elcombe throws the seagull at Mr Murray-Towers before he punches, kicks and knees him in the face."
Elcombe admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm following the street fight in May 2019.
Mr Murray-Towers had been drinking heavily that night but cannot remember much after being punched in the face and waking up in hospital.
He said Elcombe stamped on the victim's head during the fight in which he carried out a prolonged attack by punching, kicking and kneeing him in the head while he was prone on the ground in a street in Plymouth, Devon.
He also attacked him with his belt.
The court heard Elcombe had been on a three day drink and drugs binge and on the day in question he had downed 30 pints of cider as well as cocaine and MDMA.
Elcombe said the victim hafd spat at him and disrespected his dead mother and he lashed out.
The victim suffered a double fracture to his jaw and needed surgery.
Defence barrister Ali Rafati said:"It was a very unpleasant attack."
Elcombe, of Plymouth, was jailed for 16 months.
In the shop CCTV Elcombe tries to be humorous with the bird with a female customer who eventually leaves on a scooter.
And at one point he holds the bird close to his head and it tries to peck his face but he still keeps hold of it.
Elcombe also admitted failing to answer bail by not attending court in June last year.
The judge added an additional two weeks for that offence.
Elcombe's case was listed for trial four times, with two of the hearings being cancelled due to coronavirus.
