A pervert who carried out a sickening sex attack on a seagull has been jailed. David Lee received a six-month jail term and been banned from keeping animals for ten years after the court found that he had caused unnecessary suffering to the bird.
South Tyneside Magistrates court heard that the 40-year-old had been caught on CCTV chasing one bird before picking up a smaller gull and carrying out a sex act. The judge was shown a video of the defendant holding the bird between his legs as he carried out the act while watching porn on his phone.
Chronicle Live reports Mr Lee told officers that he had picked up the gull because it was injured and was looking on his phone to find out what he should do when he was arrested at a local takeaway. But instead of searching for a vet's phone number, as he claimed to have done, police checks revealed that Lee had actually been looking at porn sites, the court was told.
Mr Lee was jailed today after pleading guilty to a sexual act involving an animal that caused unnecessary suffering to the bird. The offence comes under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Chair of the Bench, Angela Thompson, told the court that the defendant had consumed alcohol and had accessed porn involving animals at the time of the incident. Lee, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, has a criminal record and was given a prison sentence in 2020 for possession of a blade.
Annalisa Moscardini, defending, said it is an “unusual offence” and that “alcohol is quite heavily involved here”. She said Lee suffers from “blackouts” due to his alcohol use and that his initial not guilty plea was because there was “genuine disbelief” he’d done it.
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