Telford man jailed for keeping wild birds
A Telford man who admitted a string of charges related to keeping wild birds in captivity has been banned from keeping British birds for life and jailed.
Robert Andrew Bailey was today sentenced to 22 weeks in custody after the RSPCA discovered wild caught birds, including goldfinches, linnets, siskins and bullfinches at his home. They also found three wild bird traps during a warrant in September 2011.
Telford Magistrates Court was today told that the bench felt the offences justified a custodial sentence due to the number of illegally kept birds in Bailey’s possession, and his failure to explain the three traps.
Bailey, aged 44, of Shrubbery Road, Ketley Bank, Telford, is the third member of his family to be successfully prosecuted by the RSPCA for wild bird offences this year. His father Robert Mark Bailey was sentenced in March when he was given a six month ban on keeping birds. Meanwhile, in April his uncle Gordon John Bailey was given a suspended 12 week custodial sentence and an order prohibiting him from keeping any birds, except up to a maximum of 10 poultry birds.
Police and RSPCA inspectors searched Robert Andrew Bailey’s home address in September last year as part of an investigation into the keeping of wild birds.
A number of birds were discovered at the property for which Bailey could not provide the necessary documents to prove they had been legally bred in captivity. Inspectors also found traps used to catch birds from the wild during the search of the address.
Bailey pleaded guilty to 35 charges of possession of a wild bird and three counts of possession of wild bird traps in breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. He also admitted one offence of keeping his birds in poor conditions under section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
In mitigation, Bailey told RSPCA inspectors that he had purchased some of the birds from the Stafford Show and from passing travellers.
Chief inspector Ian Briggs, of the RSPCA’s special operations unit, said: “This man appeared to be knowledgeable about birds. It means he should have known that he needed to provide the required paperwork to prove the origin of their birds, and the fact he couldn’t was an offence.
“He was never going to be able to provide the required documents when buying birds as he did.
“His disregard for the origin of the birds means we welcome the court’s decision to ban him from keeping birds in the near future and hope it means no more wild birds will end up suffering in Robert Andrew Bailey’s possession.”
Robert Andrew Bailey was also ordered to pay costs of £11,832.20. He cannot appeal against his ban on keeping British birds for 10 years.
