Admission on fate of dead penguin

A married father with a lifelong interest in taxidermy pleaded guilty yesterday to a string of criminal charges relating to a dead penguin and other animals.

Alan Dudley denied keeping the corpse of a tiger with intent to sell it, but admitted seven other charges relating to the remains of protected species including birds, a marmoset, a turtle, a monkey and a seal.

Coventry Crown Court heard that Dudley had pleaded guilty on the basis that he had not acted for profit while breaching regulations governing the sale and import of endangered species.

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The facts of the case against the 52-year-old, of Halford Lane, Keresley, Coventry, were not opened after his not guilty pleas to three charges were accepted by the prosecution. Speaking before the defendant was bailed until sentencing on August 20, defence barrister Timothy Green said his client did not act for commercial purposes.

"Alan Dudley may have an unusual interest in taxidermy and zoology – it is one he has followed all of his life," Mr Green told the court. "He wasn't importing these animals for profit."

Granting Dudley unconditional bail, Judge Peter Ross informed him that reports would consider all sentencing options.

Dudley admitted a total of seven charges, including offences relating to the importation of prohibited goods, but denied three other counts which related to a seal skull, a chimpanzee skull and a variety of other items.

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