A 31-year-old man has been banned from driving after he drove through a gaggle of geese, killing seven, a court heard.
Abraham Andemariam showed a “clear disregard for the animals in the road”, leaving a number of animals dead and others injured with “skin torn away from their limbs”, the court was told.
Andemariam did not stop at the scene after the incident in Warrington in July, but the registration plate of his black Hyundai was captured on a Ring doorbell and given to the police.
Officers then tracked him down at work where they discovered feathers on the bonnet of his car. Witnesses who saw the carnage were left distressed, the court heard.
Former Amazon worker Andemariam, from Toxteth, Liverpool, was found guilty in September of seven charges of intentionally killing a wild bird, namely a Greylag Goose, driving without due care and attention and driving without an MOT certificate.
He was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, at Liverpool magistrates court. He was also banned from driving for six months, ordered to do 50 hours of unpaid community work and pay costs totalling £234 at £20 a month. The court heard he lost his job as a result of the incident.
Tom Quirk, the prosecutor, explained that the incident occurred around 7 am on July 15 on Omega Boulevard in Great Sankey, Warrington.
Andemariam had driven around a roundabout and through a flock of geese, killing seven of them. A distressed woman nearby witnessed the birds suffering on the floor. “The birds were dying and also had dramatic injuries, with skin torn away from their limbs,” said Mr Quirk.
After the incident, the defendant went to work. The police visited his workplace, found feathers on the front of his bonnet and identified him as the driver. When interviewed by Cheshire Police three days later, Andemariam, who had four passengers in his car at the time, admitted to driving into the geese.
Mr Quirk added: “There was clear disregard for the animals in the road resulting in seven of them dying and also suffering while that took place. There were passengers inside the vehicle and residents were caused distress by what they witnessed, and this was after aggressive driving.”
Rebecca Templeman, defending, explained that Andemariam, who hails from Eritrea and needed a Tigrinya interpreter in court, confessed to the offences during an interview. She revealed he was convicted in his absence because his teenage brother had been shot and killed while trying to cross the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Andemariam had travelled back home and emailed the court asking for a delay, but missed the hearing as he didn’t receive the postal reply, Ms Templeman added. On his return, he saw in a local newspaper that he was wanted and handed himself into the police.
Ms Templeman said Andemariam “was appalled when shown the CCTV footage and visibly upset at what he did that day”. “He came to the UK to better his quality of life and after completing a foundation course in medical science hopes to undertake a pharmacy degree,” she said. “Whether that will still be possible with a conviction is something he will have to seek advice on.”
Reginald Nash, Chairman of the bench, told him: “These are serious matters. We have noted the harm to the animals and that you failed to take any action to avoid the collision thereby causing considerable suffering and damage.”
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This article by Paul Britton was first published by The Mirror on 28 November 2023.
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