A Luton man has been handed a suspended sentence after dozens of dead pheasants were found strewn across a Hockliffe farm.
Kane Lee, 21, of Ridgway Road, admitted to the theft of 80 pheasants at Woodcock Hill Farm, Little Lane, on August 21 along with two accomplices, who broke through the gates of the farm and used a dog, stones and a catapult to kill the birds.
When police arrived they found 26 slain pheasants in the back of a vehicle, which officers were unable to trace to a registered owner.
Lee was arrested at the scene and denied killing the birds, laying the blame at the door of the “traveller boys” he raided the farm with.
After previously pleading guilty to theft, the 21-year-old was handed an eight week prison sentence suspended for 12 months at Luton Magistrates Court on Monday.
Lee will also be forced to pay £500 in compensation to the owner of the pheasants, as well as an £80 victim surcharge and £600 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.