Probe after £50k pigeons killed

Happier times - the Gills after becoming federation winners for the third year in a row

Prize racing pigeons, with an estimated value of £50,000, have been killed by intruders at a pigeon fancier's home in the south Wales valleys.

Brian Gill said he found "absolute carnage" with 66 of his pigeons, 21 of them prize-winners, culled at his loft in Penrhiwfer, Rhondda.

South Wales Police said the birds had been "systematically killed".

The heads of many of the birds had been pulled off during a break-in in the early hours of Saturday.

Mr Gill, 58, breeds and races birds with his brother Mike, 55, and they have been UK federation champions for the past three years.

His Jack Russell dogs were making a noise at some time after 0300 BST on Saturday but he did not discover the break-in until after 0545 BST.

"It was unbelievable, absolute carnage - there were heads and bodies thrown everywhere," said Mr Gill, who ran a skip business before retiring last year due to ill health.

"It must be someone in pigeon circles. Like any walk of life, there are bad ones. But I've had phone calls and a lot of people from the racing fraternity who're supporting me."

Mr Gill said some racing birds survived, as well as his championship winning pigeon, who he calls Drogba (after the Chelsea footballer), which was kept among breeding birds in his brother's loft.

Among birds killed was his favourite, My Boy, who he was due to retire for breeding and another called Torres, who had returned after a 530-mile race from Germany.

"My brother didn't want to carry on, but I've talked him around," said Mr Gill.

"There are 28 racing birds left and there's a race tomorrow - I was up at 7am to see how they'd react and whether we should go ahead. Twenty seven came down, but we're still waiting for one of them."

A police spokesman said it was believed persons had unlawfully entered the pigeon loft and systematically killed the prize birds.

They have a total value of around £50,000, police estimate, but Mr Gill, who returned to serious racing six years ago, said "you can't put a price on them".

"Whoever did this, would be covered in blood, someone will know something," he added.

The break-in occurred sometime between 2200 BST on Friday and 0545 BST on Saturday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Ton Pentre police station.