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WATCH: CCTV shows mobility scooter drive into seagull
A person riding a mobility scooter at Great Yarmouth market on Thursday (April 12) allegedly drove into a flock of seagulls, trapping one under its wheels. The seagull later had to be killed. - Credit: Archant
A person on a mobility scooter in Great Yarmouth allegedly drove into a flock of gulls, injuring one of the birds which later had to be killed.
The RSPCA has called for witnesses to come forward with information about the incident which took place on Thursday (April 11) at 9.40am.
Sam Edwards, 42, was at a collectable toy shop in the seaside town’s outdoor market at the time.
He said that a person had dropped a sandwich on the ground prompting a feeding frenzy with about 10 to 15 gulls flocking around the food.
A person on a mobility scooter started swearing at the gulls and “sped” toward them, he said.
A person riding a mobility scooter at Great Yarmouth market on Thursday (April 12) allegedly drove into a flock of seagulls, trapping one under its wheels. The seagull later had to be killed. - Credit: Archant
“It looked like he aimed straight toward the birds,” Mr Edwards said.
“He actively swerved at the seagulls.”
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CCTV appears to show one gull trapped under the scooter’s wheels and dragged along the ground.
Mr Edwards said that passers by then stopped the driver.
Craig Woodward, 29, who works as a street cleaner in Great Yarmouth market, had to clean blood off the pavement after a seagull was trapped under a mobility scooter's wheel. - Credit: Archant
Tina Croft, who works at the toy shop, said she went to the driver and swore at him.
“It was upsetting, because we had to deal with it,” she said.
“The bird was bleeding from its throat. The poor thing was still alive, still breathing.”
Mr Edwards said it was clear the bird’s neck was broken.
Tina Croft works at the collectable toys shop in Great Yarmouth's outdoor market. She said she saw a man drive a mobility scooter into a flock of seagulls on Thursday morning (April 11). - Credit: Archant
“It was on its dying breath,” he said.
The person on the mobility scooter fled, witnesses said, having driven down Market Row.
Mr Edwards said they put the bird in a box before taking it to a butcher, Philip Blake, 61, who also has a stall in the market.
“It was virtually dead,” Mr Blake said.
The butcher helped to put the bird down.
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: “This sounds like a very concerning incident and we would urge anyone who has any information to contact the RSPCA cruelty line on 0300 1234 999.”
Craig Woodward, 29, a street cleaner with Great Yarmouth Borough Services, said that he cleaned the seagull’s blood from the pavement.
“I have never seen anything like that before,” he said.
“They can be a pest, and people don’t help the situation when throwing food about, but there’s no need to go and mistreat them.”
Last August a man kicked a baby gull across a carpark in the town before stuffing the injured animal into a waste bin.
