A grandfather who buys up to 30 loaves of bread each day to feed the birds, is being taken to court by his local council who blame him for the town’s vermin problem.
Brian Wilkins, 76, received a Community Protection Order last year after councillors complained that his feeding the birds was attracting vermin in areas of Hartlepool.
His daughter Paula Wilkins claims her dad — known as the ‘Bird Man of Hartlepool’ — had tried to avoid areas he was banned from but continued with his favourite activity.
Now, Hartlepool Borough Council, is prosecuting Mr Wilkins for allegedly breaching his notice between January 16 and October 31 of this year.
His case will go to trial after he appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday, where he denied failing to comply with the community order.
His court summons stated that he’d continued to ‘ignore advice and requests to stop placing food and feed for wildlife’, leading to ‘the persistent attraction of vermin’.
And as a result of his ‘unreasonable’ behaviour, the summons alleged he was ‘significantly impacting the quality of life’ of the people of Hartlepool.
Ms Wilkins, 57, said many local residents support her father and disagree with the council’s ‘targeting’ of him.
Brian Wilkins, 76, has been hauled to court by a borough council for feeding the birds in his town
Brian Wilkins pictured with his daughter Paula, 57, outside Hartlepool Civic Centre
Mr Wilkins, 76, received a Community Protection Order last year after councillors complained that his feeding the birds was attracting vermin
She claims the council is trying to blame her dad for attracting rats, but says they have been around for ‘ages’, partly due to takeaways in the town.
Ms Wilkins said her father buys as many as 30 loaves of bread each morning before dicing it up and taking it out to feed the birds.
‘He says it’s not a particular enjoyment… It’s the plight of these poor creatures,’ Ms Wilkins said.
‘He’s overjoyed to see them enjoying the food.
‘It saddens him because of the lack of food because of the lesser and lesser green areas and the removal of their food sources because of human expansion.
‘It’s more of a commitment than an enjoyment. All he spends his pension on is bread and seeds.’
She added that her father, who used to own several companies including a building firm and a skip company, began feeding the birds after losing six close people in his life in quick succession.
She said her dad told her he’d been in contact with the council and agreed he would avoid certain areas of the town such as a cenotaph and war memorial.
Hartlepool Borough Council, is prosecuting Mr Wilkins for allegedly breaching his notice between January 16 and October 31 of this year
Ms Wilkins said her father buys as many as 30 loaves of bread each morning before dicing it up and taking it out to feed the birds
Ms Wilkins added: ‘He used to work but now he doesn’t have a car. He’s restricted.
‘As he’s gotten older, he’s had nothing else to do. He used to go dancing but now he’s got out of society, practically.
‘I don’t know how many years he’s been doing this for.
‘They are trying to say my dad’s the cause of rats, but that’s rubbish – they have been around for ages.
‘One woman came up to us the other day and said, ‘The people of Hartlepool back you in this’.
‘He’s not harming anybody. He’s just feeding the animals.’
At his trial in April next year, it’s believed Mr Wilkins, who represented himself in court, will say he had a ‘reasonable excuse’ for breaching the order.
Hartlepool Borough Council’s lawyer Sophie Johnston outlined several complaints the council had received about Mr Wilkins from members of the public, local brewers Cameron’s Brewery and the manager of a Grade II-listed apartment building.
Ms Wilkins said her father began feeding the birds after losing six close people in his life in quick succession
Ms Johnston told the court: ‘It has been a persistent problem for the council. Since January this year, there have been further complaints.’
Asked by District Judge Stephen Hood if these accounts were correct, Mr Wilkins replied: ‘Quite correct, sir. We do it on a daily basis.
‘There [are] massive quantities of starving wildlife and these people are saying ‘don’t feed them’.’
Wilkins also said he was representing Hartlepool Wildlife Feeding Programme, and added that rats were an existing issue in the town.
His daughter Paula has branded HBC’s prosecution of her dad ‘ridiculous’ and believes authorities should be going after real criminals instead.
‘The amount of money it’s going to cost taking dad to court for feeding the birds… It’s absolutely ridiculous,’ she argued.
‘They should be dealing with criminals.
‘It’s insane. My dad might have to pay the court costs as well, which is disgusting. Absolutely crazy.
Mr Wilkins court summons stated that he’d continued to ‘ignore advice and requests to stop placing food and feed for wildlife’, leading to ‘the persistent attraction of vermin’
‘He enjoys [feeding the birds]. He has people buying him bread and seeds. He says he struggles because of his arthritis and has cut his route down.
‘His life consists of sleeping and feeding the birds. He says he’ll do it until the day he dies – unless they ban him.’
People have taken to Facebook following the news, with one person saying: ‘If they have the space to imprison bird feeders, why the hell did they let dangerous individuals out early? What a joke.’
Another person said: ‘This makes me really angry. All the poor fella does is feed the local birds and animals. What hard does it really do? And if he gets joy from this, then who are we to stop this? Everytime I see him I can’t help but smile to myself whilst humming that scene from Mary Poppins.’
‘I feed the birds in my garden, daily. With a feeder, I also sprinkle it around my garden. Am I also committing an offence? Crazy, this is absolutely crazy.’
However, some people defended the council’s actions saying: ‘Although I feel for you and him. It’s his own fault. Just move away from the businesses etc. He can still feed birds etc but he’s causing a problem the fact you think the businesses want this for him they don’t but they also don’t want the issues he’s causing.’
Another said: ‘I’m all for encouraging his passion and yes in a way it is a lovely thing that he is doing….But I have seen first hand the dangers he puts drivers in with feeding the birds! I nearly hit him at Morrisons roundabout a couple of weeks ago because he was picking up feathers and the bird that had been hit there, then threw it into the bushes.’
A GoFundMe page set up to cover any legal costs as her father fights his case compares him to Dr Doolittle, adding that he’s ‘dedicated his life to the wellbeing of our local wildlife’.
To donate, visit gofundme.com.