A Devon district councillor who shot a seagull to stop it spreading disease has been found guilty of intentionally killing a wild bird.
Dr Brian Boughton, 62, of South Ford Road, Dartmouth, used an air rifle to shoot the seagull that had nested in his roof.
He denied the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act section 1(1)A offence.
He was conditionally discharged for a year and ordered to pay £400 costs by Totnes Magistrates on Wednesday.
Dr Boughton, a Labour member in South Hams Council, said he was acting to protect public health and safety.
Magistrates ruled he was not acting within the terms of a government licence that permits householders to shoot wild birds on their property in certain circumstances.