A man who carried out a "bizarre" sexual act on a seagull has been jailed for six months.
David Lee has also been banned from keeping animals for 10 years following the offence, which caused unnecessary suffering to the bird.
A court today heard grim details of the sex act the 40-year-old man carried out on the animal, which was caught on CCTV played to the judge.
Lee chased one bird before picking up a smaller gull and was caught on CCTV looking at his phone while holding the bird between his legs and performing a sex act, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard.
The defendant was arrested at a nearby takeaway and told police he picked up the gull because he thought it was hurt and was looking on his phone to find out what he should do, Chronicle Live reports.
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.
And he was jailed today after pleading guilty to carrying out 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, said suffering was caused to the young bird and Lee had consumed alcohol and accessed porn involving animals at the time - which are aggravating features.
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.
