A Sunderland man has pleaded guilty to four charges of illegally taking rare ring ouzels from the wild.

Appearing at Sunderland Magistrates Court on 16th October 2015, Bobby Thompson, of Houghton le Spring , was convicted under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and given a 12 month conditional
discharge and ordered to forfeit all diaries, maps and books seized prior to his arrest. He was also ordered to pay £165 costs.

Thompson was originally charged after a search at his home by Northumbria Police – assisted by the RSPB and RSPCA – in July 2014, where five ring ouzels were
discovered in aviaries in his garden.

Diaries seized by the police also linked Thompson to wild ring ouzel nests on Stanhope Moor in County Durham in 2012 and 2013.

Source: Chronicle Live

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