Taxidermy aficionado found guilty

A MARRIED father with a lifelong interest in taxidermy pleaded guilty yesterday to a string of criminal charges relating to a dead penguin and other animals.

Alan Dudley denied keeping the corpse of a tiger with intent to sell it, but admitted seven other charges relating to the remains of protected species including birds, a marmoset, a turtle, a monkey and a seal.

Coventry Crown Court heard that Dudley had pleaded guilty on the basis that he had not acted for profit while breaching regulations governing the sale and importation of endangered species.

The facts of the case against the 52-year-old, of Halford Lane, Keresley, Coventry, were not opened after his not guilty pleas to three charges were accepted by the prosecution.

Speaking before the defendant was bailed until sentencing on 20 August, defence barrister Timothy Green told the court his client had not acted for commercial purposes. "He wasn't importing these animals for profit," Mr Green said.