Horrified witnesses watched a tourist punch a hungry herring gull to death after the bird swooped down and stole his pastry, leaving the bird with what one person described as “a big hole in his chest.”
On June 10, families and tourists gathered along the seafront in St Ives, Cornwall, enjoying a sunny afternoon when a familiar battle between visitors and hungry seagulls took a horrifying turn.
Witnesses say a herring gull swooped down and snatched food from a man who was visiting the area with his family.
Moments later, stunned bystanders watched in disbelief as the tourist allegedly grabbed the bird out of the air and repeatedly punched him.
‘Punched him’ to death
One of those witnesses was Rosie Reynolds, who was working at a nearby boat tour stall when the encounter turned violent.
“This absolute TOOL just gripped a seagull and punched him to the point that he’s dying in a corner on the beach, all in front of the whole slipway,” Reynolds wrote in a Facebook post alongside a photo of the man.
“I don’t care what you think about seagulls being a nuisance, they don’t know they are doing anything wrong.”
‘Chest cavity caved in’
Later speaking to the Daily Mail, Reynolds explained the man “was walking with his wife and child” when the hungry seabird “swooped down and stole his pasty.”
“He just grabbed it and had its head in his hand and punched it hard in the chest. It was sort of held in his arm so it couldn’t escape,” she told the outlet.
“After three or four punches the bird went limp then he threw him to the ground where he just lay there, he was still alive but his chest cavity was caved in and I think he just went off to die,” she said.
“I went over and berated him as did some other people, I said, ‘you can’t do that, it’s illegal,’ and his wife said the same, I think she was shocked, I asked if he’d do the same to a child who stole an ice cream but he just called me a cow and told me to f*** off.”
In an update shared on Facebook, Reynolds explained that she and others moved the gull to a quiet area in the hope that he was simply suffering from shock.
Although he managed to get back on his feet, she said his injuries appeared severe.
“I’m really hoping it was just some extreme shock but also know he had a sizeable rupture on his chest and took some ridiculously hard punches,” she wrote, adding the bird was “trundling around” before he disappeared.
‘Big hole in his chest’
Another anonymous witness, who watched the bird being murdered, described the incident as “disgusting.”
“Shocking incident in St. Ives today,” she wrote alongside images of the suspect in the St Ives Moaning Forum. “This man grabbed a seagull out the air and punched it to death then booted it wrote. Happened in a busy street by the harbour in front of about 30 people including children. My 2-year-old is scarred. Absolutely disgusting to see. This man is dangerous and should be locked up.”
A third witness, Pauly Ford, said he watched the disturbing encounter unfold at the harbor.
“Just witnessed a ‘man’ grab a seagull that had knocked the pasty out of his hand and punched the bird twice really, really hard,” he wrote on Facebook.
“The bird wasn’t able to fly away…sadly the bird had a big hole in his chest so will likely not survive.”
“Not sure what to do about this, we have a picture of the guy after killing a seagull because he’s an idiot is there anything we can do. Surely the police will want to know.”
Police appeal for witnesses
Herring gulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and anyone convicted of intentionally harming one can face an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison.
Now Devon and Cornwall Police are appealing for witnesses and footage following the alleged attack.
“We are appealing for witnesses and footage following a report of a seagull being attacked in St Ives,” a spokesperson said in a Facebook post.
“Devon & Cornwall Police received a third hand report about the incident which is said to have taken place on the seafront on the afternoon of Wednesday 10 June.”
“Social media posts stated that a man punched and beat a seagull.”
“Despite posts being widely shared online, the matter was not reported to us by anyone present at the scene.”
Netizens identify suspect
As images of the alleged attack circulated, internet sleuths quickly identified the man as Jonathan “Jonny” Roberts, a pro-Palestine advocate from Bradford, Yorkshire.
Photos posted on social media show Roberts wearing the same cream-colored Fistral hoodie and gray Under Armour cap seen in witness photographs from St Ives.
Devon and Cornwall Police have not publicly identified the suspect, and no charges have been announced.
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