A ZOOKEEPER barricaded himself in his flat with two wallabies and fourteen tortoises and refused to leave for twenty-three days after he was dismissed for secretly selling off its marmosets, an employment tribunal was told yesterday.

The owner of the small zoo said he had no idea that Steve Riley had been sharing his tied flat with the menagerie until he finally left, leaving the place wrecked and full of straw and animal droppings.

Mr Riley claims he was unfairly dismissed from Tropiquaria, a tourist attraction at Watchet in Somerset.

The zoo’s owners told the tribunal that the 48-year-old was sacked after being confronted about the missing marmosets.

They then discovered that Mr Riley had managed to build up his own collection of exotic animals which were donated by other zoos in the belief they were going on show in Tropiquaria.

In fact, Mr Riley wanted them because he had plans to open his own zoo in Spain.

He got a rare Dumeril’s boa from London Zoo, a Goeldi’s monkey from Bristol, 14 baby tortoises and a meerkat from Paignton Zoo in Devon, a red-handed tamarin from Drusilla’s Zoo Park in East Sussex and a tapir from Drayton Manor Park near Tamworth.

He also acquired two 6ft-tall alpacas, despite the zoo’s policy of only keeping small animals.

Mr Riley, from Ludlow, Shropshire, who worked as animal manager until he was dismissed in January, denies stealing from the zoo and says the ownership of the animals was a “grey area”.

He says he had the zoo’s permission to keep his own collection of exotic animals. He says the company did not carry out an adequate investigation and did not follow the correct procedures.

Stephen Smith, the zoo’s managing director, told the hearing in Exeter that he became suspicious when he discovered that a marmoset he believed had been bought by Mr Riley had in fact been loaned to Tropiquaria without anyone being informed.

He claimed that Mr Riley tried to charge the zoo £1,200 for an otter which had in fact been given on loan.

Mr Smith said: “We were also concerned about the number of marmosets, which had mysteriously declined. Mr Riley said he was as mystified as we were. I realise now we were naive.

“One of our keepers told me she was concerned that on one occasion when Mr Riley was visiting North Cornwall Aviaries he took a pet carrier which he concealed in the boot of his car.

“I spoke to Ivan Crawle, the owner of North Cornwall Aviaries, and he said he had bought half a dozen marmosets from us . . . and paid £250 or £300 each in cash.

“We held a meeting with Mr Riley and as soon as we discussed our concerns he said in a threatening manner, ‘You can’t sack me without my solicitor being present.’

“He then stormed out of the office and went to his flat, where he locked the door and effectively barricaded himself in.”

Mr Smith said that in the next few days there were a series of nuisance calls to the authorities and they were visited by trading standards, The Zoo Federation, the RSPCA, an official from Paignton Zoo and environmental health officers.

They were also raided by the police, who seized their computers after Mr Riley claimed that one of the directors had been accessing child pornography. Mr Smith said that staff were shocked when Mr Riley and his family finally left the flat on February 6 this year.

He said: “We were disgusted to find the flat had been completely trashed. Paint was thrown on the wall and rubbish had been left in the rooms.

“It was apparent that wallabies had actually been kept in one bedroom because there was straw on the floor and wallaby faeces on the carpet. The cooker had been destroyed with a sledgehammer and prawns stuffed in the pipes.

“There were several pictures daubed on the walls of people catching monkeys and words saying, ‘Softly Softly Catchee Monkey.’

“We called the police but they said it was a landlord and tenant dispute.”

Mr Riley is due to give evidence at the tribunal today.

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