tim's experiment

You will not believe this. A faithful reader of mine lives in Morecambe, Lancashire, the seaside town on whose local paper I had my first journalist job. The newspaper is still there, and the passage which follows is a slightly trimmed version of a story about a gentleman known as the Morecambe Birdman, who was sent to prison for feeding pigeons. The local paper reported as follows:

“When John Wilkinson told his fellow prisoners he was in jail for feeding pigeons, they burst out laughing.

‘Some of them were in for murder or robbery with violence, and they couldn’t believe I was in for feeding birds,’ he said.

‘They thought I was winding them up.

‘Then they came to me a week later and said they realised I was telling the truth, because they’d seen me on TV.’

Mr Wilkinson, known as the Morecambe Birdman, was sent to prison for breaching an ASBO restricting his love of feeding pigeons, after years of complaints by neighbours.

He was jailed for six weeks and served just under half the sentence.

Hundreds of thousands flocked to social media to support the pensioner, many complaining that his punishment did not fit the crime.

The Visitor also began a campaign to Free the Morecambe Birdman.

Mr Wilkinson, 65, said being sent to prison will not stop him from feeding birds in Morecambe in future.

‘I regard being sent to prison as excessive and unjust’ he said.”