Lawrence Dickson: Not a big hit with the birds
Lawrence Dickson: He knows a thing or two about the birds and the bees
A bird-brained thief has avoided jail after falling fowl of the law.
Limavady man Lawrence Dickson had captured a wild goldfinch and kept it in a cage too small for it to move its wings.
The bird died soon after police and a wildlife officer swooped on his Ardgarvan Cottages home in May, and an examination showed it hadn’t been fed properly.
It’s not the first time the 79-year-old has been convicted in connection with stealing wildlife – he got a £200 fine last year for pocketing dozens of live bees from a hive.
When police arrested him in 2013 Dickson, who claimed he’s allergic to the insects, was found with bees flying out of his trousers and his shirt.
During his court appearance last week in connection with the latest incident he was accused of making glue sticks to trap wild birds in his garden.
He denied making the sticks and said the cage which housed the bird wasn’t too small.
His defence solicitor said his client lived alone and birds were his hobby, and the cage was only temporary.
Dickson was using the wild bird for ‘muling’ – to mate it with a canary to produce a songbird that could not breed.
Attempted
However the court didn’t accept the pensioner’s version of events and said the offences were sufficiently serious to receive a custodial sentence.
He was sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years, for possessing a wild bird and keeping it in an unsuitable cage.
The former labourer’s most recent court appearance was a more sedate affair compared to his appearance in July last year when the prosecutor struggled to contain his laughter as he outlined the bee theft case.
The bees’ owner said he’d seen the pensioner and an accomplice near his hives but the other man ran off, and the landowner held Dickson until police came.
Bees were flying out of his pocket and he stood on and killed four of them. The bee hive he’d attempted to steal was worth £540.
The PSNI officer who arrested him reported that during the journey to the local police station there was a constant buzzing coming from the pensioner.
Before being unable to continue because he was laughing so much the prosecutor said, “It’s not clear how you detain a Queen bee without her consent.”
District Judge Austin Kennedy replied, “With some difficulty – there is always the risk of flight.”
After Dickson told the court he’d pulled off the road because he’d been caught short and was loosening a button on his trousers Judge Kennedy joked, “You were lucky you weren’t stung down there.”
When barrister Joe McCann asked for legal aid for one defence counsel the judge quipped: “There’s always a sting in the tail.”
Dickson was fined £200 for attempted theft and order to pay £50 to the bee keeper.
However he later told Sunday World he’d only pleaded guilty to get the legal proceedings over with.
“The whole thing has been very harsh.
“Everyone was laughing in the court and I could see the funny side but I’m left with a criminal record now which doesn’t seem fair,” said the pensioner.