A former zookeeper that broke into his previous workplace to steal rare birds and 2 penguins got arrested and was jailed after he tried to sell the animals on Facebook.
25-year-old Bradley Tomes nicked £25,000 worth of rare birds, which includes 2 Humboldt penguins named Penny and Pablo.
He also stole 12 rare spoonbills. 8 of them passed away.
Tomes broke into South Lakes Safari in Cumbria, where he previously worked for 4 years.
He last worked at the place until 2016.
It was heard in a hearing at the Preston Crown Court that Tomes carried out “coordinated” burglaries in July and October 2018.
He was caught after trying to sell 2 penguins to a private animal collector on Facebook.
The collector reportedly became suspicious.
Tomes was arrested by the authorities on January 16, 2019, after he tried to transport the birds to the home of the collector.
He was arrested afterward.
He initially denied all matters and told the authorities that he had brought the penguins from Scotland.
However, the penguins had microchips in them.
The chips pointed the same way, which is back to the zoo, where he stole them.
Tomes later pleaded guilty to stealing 12 spoonbill birds on July 22, 2018.
He reportedly stole 2 Humboldt penguins and 3 macaws on October 27 in the same year.
He also admitted that he transported and sold the animals.
He was given 2 years and 8 months in prison time for the crimes that he had carried out.
Judge Beverley Lunt said:
You carried out a carefully coordinated burglary. You stole 12 spoonbills, these are rare birds. As a result of the damage caused by leaving a gaping hole, other birds also escaped which have never been seen again. Three other spoonbills also escaped but thankfully were recovered. The others weren’t and their fate is unknown. During your time at the zoo you had dealt with the aviary. So you knew this group of spoonbills was the only one in the UK. You knew they were a family group from a breeding programme. You destroyed that group. You didn’t care, you saw them as a commodity you could sell. You let eight die, so you caused even more suffering. This was a callous and cruel crime. The only excuse you can make is that at the time you needed money for alcohol and drugs. Why would you steal 12 birds, which were worth £20,000? You caused animals unnecessary suffering for your greed. This crime demonstrates how callous and selfish you were. You only cared about the money you could obtain.
The 12 spoonbills that he stole were not recovered.
The court said that 8 died in his custody and the remaining 4 were successfully sold to people in the country.
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