Driver who drove through gaggle of geese killing seven sentenced

A man who struck a gaggle of geese while driving to work and left them dying in the road has been sentenced.

Abraham Andemariam, 31, of Liverpool, was captured on smart doorbell footage killing seven geese on Omega Boulevard in Great Sankey, Warrington, in July.

Witnesses including four passengers in Andemariam's car were distressed by the suffering of the birds, a court heard.

Andemariam pleaded guilty and was given a 12-week jail term suspended for a year.

The Amazon driver, who is originally from Eritrea but now of Asbridge Street, Toxteth, was tracked down at work after his registration for his black Hyundai Ioniq was caught on Ring doorbell footage.

At Liverpool Magistrates' Court, chairman of the bench, Reginald Nash, told the defendant: "We have noted the harm to the animals and that you failed to take any action to avoid the collision thereby causing considerable suffering and damage."

He said they were "serious matters" but magistrates ruled as Andemariam had no previous convictions and an immediate sentence would impact on his young children, he was handed a suspended sentence.

Tom Quirk, prosecuting, said the incident happened at about 07:00 BST on 15 July.

Andemariam "drove through a flock of geese killing seven of them" then carried on to work, he told the court.

Mr Quirk said "there was clear disregard for the animals in the road".

A witness saw "the birds suffering on the floor causing her some distress", he said.

"The birds were dying and also had dramatic injuries with skin torn away from their limbs.

"There were passengers inside the vehicle and residents were caused distress by what they witnessed and this was after aggressive driving."

Mr Quirk said when police went to Andemariam's work they saw feathers on the front of his bonnet and identified him as the driver.

Andemariam was found guilty in his absence in September of seven charges of intentionally killing a wild bird, a Greylag Goose, and also driving without due care and without an MOT certificate.

He was also sacked from his job, the court heard.

Rebecca Templeman, defending, said Andemariam had admitted the offences in interview and was convicted in his absence after the death of his 16-year-old brother.

The defendant had travelled to the scene and emailed the court asking for an adjournment but he did not receive the postal reply and missed the hearing, she said.

On his return he saw in a newspaper he was wanted and surrendered himself to police.

Miss Templeman said Andemariam "was appalled when shown the CCTV footage and visibly upset at what he did that day".

Andemariam was banned from driving for six months and ordered to do 50 hours unpaid work and 10 days rehabilitation activities as well as pay £274 costs.

Additional reporting by Lynda Roughley

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]