Jail clips wings of serial bird hunter

A SWEDISH man who captured 13,000 wild birds and kept hundreds of them locked up in his home has been convicted of animal cruelty and sentenced to a year and a half in prison.

Hudiksvall district court said Pierre Johansson, 39, used illegal nets and traps to capture the birds, including owls, falcons, hawks, sparrows, pheasants and woodpeckers.

After documenting his catch, he released most of them, but the court said yesterday he kept hundreds in cages at his home.