A roofer has been cleared of dumping 50 dead hares and two birds outside a village shop in Broughton, Hampshire, and exclaimed 'tweet, tweet, tweet' as he walked out of court. James Kempster, 39, was accused of turning the shop into a 'horror movie scene' by smearing blood on its windows and hurling hare carcasses onto its forecourt.
Not guilty of criminal damage
After over two hours of deliberation, magistrates found Kempster not guilty of causing criminal damage by discarding the hares, a barn owl and a kestrel outside the shop. They said they could not be sure 'beyond reasonable doubt' that the individual in the CCTV footage was Kempster. However, they found that he had been in possession of the two dead birds at some point, which could be an 'imprisonable offence'. He was convicted of two counts of possessing a live or dead wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and will be sentenced in June.
Courtroom outburst
As he left the court building, Kempster looked at reporters and said 'Tweet, tweet, tweet.' His defence barrister, Juliet Osborne, had previously told the court that he 'sits in court an innocent man and he remains one'. She argued that even if it was 'very probable' he did it, magistrates must find him not guilty.
Defence arguments
Kempster previously told Southampton Magistrates' Court he had nothing to do with the bizarre attack and did not 'know how my DNA got there'. The father-of-three denied any involvement or knowledge of the incident. Osborne said: 'There is not enough evidence against Mr Kempster to be sure. The crown must show he was in possession of the owl and the kestrel and caused the damage to the shop.' She noted that CCTV showed Kempster 26 hours before the incident in different clothing and a different vehicle.
Prosecution case
Adam Cooper, prosecuting, said: 'We don't need to understand why this took place or why Kempster did this. We only need to be certain of the evidence.' The court heard that Kempster arrived at the shop at 3:23am wearing a balaclava and tracksuit, discarding 50 dead hares and stuffing bird carcasses onto door handles. DNA evidence linked Kempster to the birds, but magistrates found the trouser logo on CCTV did not match his.
Sentencing pending
Chair of the Magistrates Bench, Kevin White, said: 'It is an offence to be in possession of a dead wild bird. Possession is established by the DNA evidence. We found that the defendant did have the birds in his possession and therefore guilty on counts one and two. It is not sufficient to positively identify the criminal damage.' Kempster will be sentenced on June 23 for possession of the dead wild birds and remains on bail with conditions not to enter Broughton.
