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Warning: This article includes an image of a dead animal which some people may find upsetting.

Bystanders were left "shocked" after a man brutally killed a seagull which was attempting to steal his chips.

John Llewellyn Jones, 64, killed the bird during a day trip to Weston-super-Mare on July 17, 2018.

The lesser black backed gull flew around the defendant trying to reach his chips and subsequently knocked them out of his hand.

Appalled witnesses then saw him catch the gull by the leg and smash the animal into a wall, killing it.

Mr Jones, from Bishopston Road in Cardiff, was found guilty of a Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 offence at North Somerset Magistrates' Court in Weston-super-Mare on March 12.

Jones had pleaded not guilty, but magistrates decided two witness accounts were "credible and compelling".

He was sentenced to a 12-week curfew, between the hours of 8pm and 8am, which began immediately.

He was also ordered to pay £750 in costs, and a £85 victim surcharge.

Care 'more for his chips' than the 'poor gull'

Gulls are protected under section 1 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981.

(Image: RSPCA)

The RSPCA say the man showed "blatant disregard for animal welfare" and "cared more for his chips than what his actions did to the poor gull".

Simon Evans, RSPCA inspector, said: "This was an unthinkable and despicable way to treat an animal. The gull was smashed against a wall by the man, solely because it knocked chips from his hand.

"This was deliberate cruelty, borne from the fact that this man cared more for his chips than what his actions did to the poor gull. Simply, the man showed blatant disregard for an animal because he was annoyed about his chips.

"Witnesses saw the attack - and shocked bystanders, including children, had to look on as the man killed the gull."