Bird smuggler's sentence cut

Eagle owls were among the 23 birds found in tubes

A Norfolk man who inflicted "extreme cruelty" on rare birds he smuggled into Britain has had his sentence cut.

Appeal Court judges said what 54-year-old Raymond Humphrey did was despicable and sickening but ruled his six-and-a-half year jail term was too long.

It had been imposed after a two-month trial at Isleworth Crown Court which culminated Humphrey being convicted of a number of counts of smuggling, keeping and trading rare animals.

On Monday Mr Justice Gray, sitting with Lord Justice Laws and Judge Geoffrey Rivlin at London's Court of Appeal, reduced Humphrey's sentence by a year.

Professional criminal

Earlier Dominic Webber, for Humphrey, had told the court the sentence was comparable to those passed on criminals convicted of manslaughter, rape and drug dealing, and should be reduced.

Mr Justice Gray refused to cut the sentence by more than a year, saying Humphrey, of Shepherdsgate Road, Tilney All Saints, was a professional criminal who had shown "utter disregard for the law".

He added the Crown Court judge had been entitled and right to make an example of unemployed Humphrey, and said he had inflicted extreme cruelty on the birds.

"There's little by way of mitigation," observed Mr Justice Gray.

He told the court two men were watched by customs officials after they landed at Heathrow Airport from Bangkok, Thailand.

Dead slow loris

They were met by Humphrey, and when they were later challenged in a car park, officers found they were carrying plastic tubes in their suitcases.

Inside the tubes were 23 rare birds of prey, including brownie kites and eagle owls, all protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Six were dead and the others were in a distressed state.

When police and customs officers raided Humphrey's Norfolk house they found 54 more rare birds.

They also discovered a golden-cheeked gibbon, one of only around 1,000 left in the world, seven slow loris and five tortoises.

A dead slow loris was found in Humphrey's freezer.