March 14, 2022
-India Times
A drunk man who carried a seagull around and then used it to attack a stranger has been jailed.
Paul Elcombe, 29, from Plymouth, England, had picked up the bird from the middle of a road after it had been hit by a car. As he was carrying the seagull, he then launched it at a stranger before raining kicks and punches to his head as he lay on the ground, Plymouth Live reported.
The man, identified as Kyle Murray-Towers, was left with a broken jaw after the attack, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
Elcombe was walking home after two days drinking and taking drugs when he carried it around a Premier Store and attacked the man by launching the bird – which then flew away.
He then punched, kicked and stamped on his head as he lay on the ground before hitting him with a belt, the report said.
Recorder Tim Kenefick told the court how Elcombe was “off his head” at the time of the assault.
He said: “CCTV shows you parading the seagull around the store, holding it up to various customers and at one point holding it above your head. I know that you have said you found it on the street and wanted to save it from being run over.”
“After that, the two of you got into a fight. During the course of that, you got him onto the ground, you hit him several times to the head and you stamped on his head. You had been out for two or three days street-drinking and taking drugs. You were pretty much off your head at the time of this incident,” he added.
Elcombe pleaded guilty to assault causing grievous bodily harm without intent on May 12, 2019.
He also admitted failing to answer bail by not attending his trial in June last year. The judge added an additional two weeks for that offence.
Jailing him for 16 months and two weeks, a judge said that Elcombe started talking to the stranger as they walked home together at about 5 am.
Elcombe is still charged with cruelty towards the seagull, but that case has been sent back to be heard by city magistrates.
