A DOCTOR who campaigned to rid a town of gulls was convicted yesterday of shooting a bird that had deposited an unwelcome addition into his wife’s salad.

Brian Boughton, the founder of an anti-seagull action group, had a licence to shoot them, but only if they were a danger to public health.

Boughton said that the birds, which were nesting on the roof of his home in Dartmouth, Devon, were aggressive and spread disease. One had dive-bombed his wife as she ate her lunch, covering her food with droppings.

Boughton was convicted of unlawfully shooting the bird, contravening the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, after a trial before Totnes magistrates.

The court was told that he had shot the bird with an airgun before stringing it up in his garden as a deterrent to other gulls. He was prosecuted by the RSPCA after a complaint from a member of the public.

Boughton, 62, said that he had tried humane methods to scare off the birds, but the final straw came when one flew past an open window, splattering his hair, clothes and the lunch of his wife, Elizabeth, with droppings.

Boughton told magistrates that the birds ripped open bin bags and left droppings everywhere. He said: “It was like living in medieval squalor. These gulls feed from human sewage outfalls and waste tips.

“I believe the risk to my family was extreme. They can cause death. I tried a range of methods to get rid of them, like a distress call and firing blanks, but none of them worked. The environment we live in was contaminated with seagull droppings. My property is sometimes inches thick with the stuff.”

Boughton, who is the father of Emma B, the Radio 1 DJ, told the court that he had not enjoyed killing the gull, and had told the local police wildlife officer what he intended to do. He said: “I tied it to an apple tree as a deterrent to other gulls. It was actually very effective and the whole street was soon cleared of seagulls. Farmers and fishermen have done this type of thing for hundreds of years and the purpose is to scare off other seagulls and avoid me having to shoot any more.”

Boughton was a founder member of the Dartmouth Action Group Against Seagulls. As a district councillor for South Hams District Council, he campaigned for a bylaw banning tourists from feeding gulls. He said that the birds were responsible for spreading foot-and-mouth disease during the outbreak four years ago.

Paul Taylor, for the prosecution, said: “There is no denying the seagull he killed was a nuisance but does being a nuisance justify this killing? “His licence states the birds can only be killed if all nonlethal deterrents have been used. The licence also states that a seagull can only be killed if it presents a danger to public health.”

Neil Thomas, the RSPCA chief inspector for Devon, said: “Dartmouth is a seaside town, and you expect seagulls.”

Boughton was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £400 costs.

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