Man who kept Sam the stolen parrot at his house is given a work order

Sam the parrot was stolen from Harry Tuffins supermarket in Churchstoke on the night of August 9 and spent a night in Tipton in the West Midlands before being brought back.

Stuart Jones, 35, of Victoria Road, Tipton, appeared at Welshpool Magistrates Court yesterday where he admitted handling stolen goods.

He also admitted a charge of burglary in that he broke into a toilet block at the supermarket between 10.09pm on August 8 and 1.17am on August 9 and stole £3 from a vending machine.

Jones said an accomplice had stolen the parrot, but it had stayed at his house overnight before being returned to owner Roy Delve.

In addition to the unpaid work, Jones was ordered to pay costs of £85, a victim surcharge of £60 and compensation of £3 to Harry Tuffins.

John Vaughan, chairman of the bench, said: "You have an atrocious criminal record of 304 offences and it is clear you came to Powys on those two nights with only one thing on your mind. You took away a valuable parrot which was very upsetting for Mr Delve – and, although it is now back in his possession, it was a very emotional time."

Mrs Helen Tench, prosecuting, said CCTV at the supermarket showed that a car, which was traced as belonging to Jones, drove into Tuffins car park late on August 8 and seen leaving later.

She said: "The next day staff found an old vending machine had been ripped off the wall and a small amount of cash, now known to be £3, had been taken.

"The next night CCTV picked up the same car arriving at 9.04pm and leaving at 9.16pm and this time when staff got in it was discovered that Sam, a 25-year-old gold and blue parrot who belonged to the store had been taken. The police were called, CCTV studied and the car was traced as belonging to the defendant.

"Officers attended his address and he was arrested."

Mrs Tench said the defendant offered to get the parrot back, which he did, and it was given back to the owner the next day.

Mr Martin McNamara, for Jones, said he had never come across a case of handling a stolen parrot in 18 years as a solicitor.

He added: "It is an incident of stupidity and perhaps comical to some, although not the victim."