Harrogate man who pulled off pigeon’s wing fails to turn up in court

A man who admitted pulling off the wing of a pigeon in Harrogate town centre failed to turn up in court yesterday for sentencing.

Martin Gilham, 53, of Bewerley Road in Jennyfields pleaded guilty to the offence on Oxford Street at Harrogate Magistrates Court last month.

He also admitted a separate charge of being drunk and disorderly on Oxford Street on the same date.

Both incidents took place on May 20 this year.

Gilham was due to be sentenced at York Crown Court yesterday but did not turn up.

Judge Simon Hickey issued a warrant for his arrest.

However, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said today the warrant was withdrawn later in the day and Gilham was no longer wanted.

He is likely to return to court for sentencing soon.

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Harrogate man admits pulling off pigeon’s wing

A Harrogate man has admitted pulling off the wing of a pigeon in Harrogate town centre.

Martin Gilham, 53, of Bewerley Road in Jennyfields, pleaded guilty to the offence on Oxford Street at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday.

Gilham also admitted a separate charge of being drunk and disorderly on Oxford Street on the same date.

The incidents took place on May 20 this year.

Gilham initially denied the charges but changed his pleas.

He is due to be sentenced at York Crown Court on August 17.

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Harrogate office issues urgent plea for help to save stranded pigeon

A shared office space in Harrogate has issued an urgent plea for help after an injured pigeon was found in the building this morning.

Staff at Community House on East Parade discovered the young bird hiding behind a box in reception this morning.

They turned a cardboard box into a makeshift home and are attempting to keep it alive while help is found.

Karen Weaver, strategic lead at Harrogate and District Community Action, which is based in the building and has responsibility for it, said:

“We’re keeping it hydrated but it’s not keen to eat so far.  So if any one can offer it a good home and more expert knowledge than we have here we’d love to hear from them ASAP.”

Staff at Community House, which has 30 serviced offices, believe the pigeon was dislodged when the building’s gutters were cleaned yesterday.

https://twitter.com/KarenWeaver2020/status/1643572483977629696

They think the bird is too young to fly and contacted animal welfare charity the RSPCA but it was unable to help.

Ms Weaver said:

“We need someone to give it some TLC, help it feed and drink, hopefully survive and thrive and then fly off.

“We’ve got interest from the teenage daughter of one of our team  but mum would be happy for it to be rehomed elsewhere if we can find someone willing this afternoon.

“We get lots of requests for help here at Community House but we’ve not had one from a homeless bird before!”

Community House reception can be contacted on 01423503700.

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Rival racing pigeons banned from Ripon racecourse

Rival homing pigeons who race against the clock across the UK have been banned from starting their race from Ripon Racecourse after a wagon used to house the birds got stuck on sodden grass.

Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing trained pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance.

Specially designed wagons collect up to 1,000 pigeons before releasing them at Ripon Racecourse in what is known as “pigeon liberation”.

The aerodynamic birds then use a built in homing system to hurtle through the sky and reach home. They are microchipped and their times are recorded.

But following some recent wet weather, the trucks got stuck on the grass — which led to an upset racecourse having to call a local recovery firm to rescue it.

A pigeon liberation

James Hutchinson, managing director and clerk of the course at Ripon, told the Stray Ferret there have been two incidents where drivers drove the heavy wagons “without due consideration” onto the sodden grass, leaving them stranded.

He added:

“We attempted to help extracting these vehicles but due to their size we were unsuccessful. A local recovery firm had to be called to complete the job and we were left with damage to repair to the grass car park.”

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The Royal Pigeon Racing Association (RPRA) tweeted earlier this week that it had received notice from the racecourse that pigeon liberations can no longer be accommodated from June 1 and the site “has been cancelled”.

It warned pigeon fanciers that the nearest alternatives are 10 miles away in Harrogate and 29 miles away in Malton.

However, homing pigeons flying above the cathedral city could return soon after it appears the racecourse has had a change of heart.

Mr Hutchinson added that discussions with the RPRA are underway to consider the resumption of pigeon liberations “at the earliest opportunity”.

An RPRA spokesperson told the Stray Ferret they hope to be able to resume pigeon liberations in Ripon in the future.

Lucky sick pigeon on James Street finds someone who cares

A Harrogate woman found a sick pigeon on James Street and instead of walking by decided to rescue it and nuture it back to health.

Hayley Norman, who works for local charity Carers’ Resource, was moved when she saw a rather sad looking young bird on James Street.

At first she decided to leave the bird with the assumption that its parents would come back to care for it.

Three days and plenty of rain later Hayley decided to go back and see if the pigeon was still there. It was and looking in a worse state.

Armed with a shoe box Hayley managed to scoop up the young pigeon, who she has named James after the street where she found it, and took it home.

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With days of hand feeding and keeping James warm, Hayley managed to find him a professional in Pickering to help eventually release it. She told the Stray Ferret:

“I rang a vet for some advice. They said that I could bring it in and they would put it to sleep. That’s not what I wanted to do so I decided to take on its care myself. When I rescued it I am sure some people thought I looked crazy. Normally I would just walk past but I couldn’t this time.”

Would Hayley do it again? Absolutely. It might not be for everyone but there are plenty of groups online dedicated to pigeon rescue.

The RSPB’s advice tells people that it is rarely possible to catch injured birds and warns that careless handling may cause further injury.