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Drunk tourists fined for stealing penguin
Two British tourists in Australia went on a vodka binge before stealing a penguin, swimming with dolphins and letting off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure.
A former British Royal Marine and his friend have admitted breaking into Sea World on the Gold Coast of Australia after getting drunk at a beach party last month.
The Welshmen, who were on working holidays in Australia, drank 1.5 litres of vodka between them before deciding to go to the popular theme park.
Rhys Owen Jones, formerly of the Royal Marines, and bricklayer Keri Mules pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday of trespassing, stealing and keeping a protected animal.
Lawyer Bill Potts told the court his clients meant no harm to the fairy penguin they stole called Dirk.
They awoke with hangovers the next morning and found the bird in their room. Realising their mistake they tried to care for it by feeding it bread and putting it in the shower.
“I’m not sure if a little bird popped into their heads but they thought a swim with the dolphins might be nice,” the lawyer told the court.
“Then on their way out they had what might be described as a ‘Biggles moment’. They thought it might be a good idea at the time,” Mr Potts said, referencing the hero of the Biggles series of adventure books for boys.
They eventually decided to release the penguin into the nearby Broadwater, not realising it was at risk of being attacked by a bull shark.
The bird was later rescued and returned to Sea World.
Mr Potts tendered a letter of apology to Sea World and the Australian public.
Magistrate Brian Kucks accepted an appeal not to record convictions against the pair, because it would ruin their hopes of one day living in Australia.
He fined them £637 each and said they’d been lucky not to have drunkenly stumbled into the polar bear enclosure.
“You could have found yourselves in a morgue if you’d gone into the wrong enclosure. Perhaps next time you are at a party you will consider drinking a little less vodka”, he summed up.