A former zookeeper has been convicted of stealing penguins from South Lakes Safari Zoo.
Bradley Thomas Tomes, 25, of Tarleton, Preston, admitted two charges of burglary when he appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates' Court on Friday, 18th September 2020.
He also admitted three charges relating to selling and attempting to sell the birds.
Non-dwelling burglary, as in this case, is an offence under section 9 of the Theft Act 1968. It is triable either way and has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody on summary conviction or 10 years' custody on conviction on indictment.
The court heard that Tomes' crimes were uncovered when he sold two Humboldt penguins named Pablo and Penny to exotic animals keeper Reece Oliver, who had seen them advertised on Facebook (as you do).
When the birds fell ill their microchips were checked, which revealed they had been stolen - along with three macaws and twelve spoonbills - when aviaries at the Cumbrian zoo were raided on 22nd July and 27th October 2018.
Lee Dacre, prosecuting, said: "On 22nd July when staff opened up they saw a hole had been cut in the perimeter fence of the aviary and exotic birds had been extracted, valued at around £20,000.
"Their suspicions fell on the defendant. He had worked there previously as bird keeper and had previously asked if he could buy some of the animals.
"Initially enquiries by Lancashire Police did not come up with anything."
He said: "On 16th January an animal collector who bought the penguins on Facebook contacted vets saying they were in bad health.
"The defendant asked the person not to contact the police and he would refund him the money.
"Staff from the zoo travelled to the collector's address and tags on the birds confirmed they were stolen.
Paraphrasing the famous chocolate biscuit tagline, Mr Dacre concluded: "Staff were able to pick up the penguins."
The court heard that in 2019 Tomes was sentenced to 20 weeks' custody suspended for 12 months for animal welfare offences committed at the zoo.
Given the circumstances of the offences, Magistrates determined that their sentencing powers were insufficient. They sent Tomes to Preston Crown Court for sentencing.
He was granted unconditional bail until his sentencing hearing at that court on Friday, 16th October 2020.
Sergeant Andrew Browning, of Nottinghamshire Police, who worked on the investigation, said it was "one for the books" and the penguins "made everyone laugh".
He added: "My first thought was this is one for the books, and one to tell the grandkids, because there's no way we thought we would go down there and actually find two penguins.
"It was an unusual one. Even when we went down to custody it made everyone laugh, particularly the custody sergeant who was booking us in.
"It was a real off-the-wall find."
Update (30/10/20): Tomes has been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months.
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