Animal-loving grandpa being taken to court for refusing to stop feeding birds

An animal-loving grandfather is being taken to court by his local council – for refusing to stop feeding the birds in his town.

Brian Wilkins, 76, received a Community Protection Order last year after local councillors complained that his feeding the birds was attracting vermin in areas of Hartlepool, Co. Durham.

His daughter Paula Allison claims her dad — known as the ‘Bird Man of Hartlepool’ – had tried to avoid areas he was banned from but continued with his favorite activity.

Mr Wilkins’ case will now go to trial next year after he appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tues) to deny failing to comply with the community order imposed by Hartlepool Borough Council (HBC).

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”.

As a result of his “unreasonable” behaviour, the summons alleged he was “significantly impacting the quality of life” of the people of Hartlepool.

However, 57-year-old Paula says locals support her dad and disagree with HBC’s “targeting” of him.

She claims HBC are trying to blame her dad for attracting rats — but says they’ve been around for “ages”, partly due to takeaways in the town.

Paula says her dad buys as many as 30 loaves of bread each morning before dicing it up and taking it out to feed the birds.

“Dad was banned around a year ago from feeding the birds in certain areas,” she said. “He goes to other areas, but now he has this court case. It’s shocking.”

Paula explained that Mr Wilkins, who used to own several companies including a building firm and a skip company, began feeding the birds of Hartlepool after losing six close people in his life in quick succession.

She said her dad told her he’d been in contact with HBC and agreed he would avoid certain areas of the town such as a cenotaph and war memorial, a square and a car park.

On why her dad feels obligated to feed the birds, Paula added: “He says it’s not a particular enjoyment… It’s the plight of these poor creatures. 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,” she said. “It’s more of a commitment than an enjoyment. All he spends his pension on is bread and seeds.”

His daughter 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,” she declared.

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.

HBC’s lawyer Sophie Johnston outlined several complaints the council had received about Mr Wilkins from members of the public, local brewers Camerons Brewery and the manager of a Grade II-listed apartment building.

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.”

“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.”

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: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-bird-man-of-hartlepool.