A reptile collector was today allowed to keep his large collection of exotic animals despite being convicted of causing them unnecessary suffering by housing them in a "ramshackle" barn.

At the end of a trial which cost £30,000, unemployed music teacher Colin Shaw was convicted of 27 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an array of exotic reptiles including crocodiles, alligators, pythons and terrapins.

He was fined £250 and ordered to pay just £250 towards the £30,000 cost of bringing the case to court.

An application by the RSPCA to have the animals taken from him and to revoke his licence to keep exotic pets was dismissed at Bishop Auckland Magistrates Court, in County Durham.

Shaw, of Market Crescent, Wingate, County Durham, had denied 27 separate charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the exotic animals and faced a near-three-week trial over the allegations.

The prosecution was brought by the RSPCA following a raid at the barn, in Wingate, in October 2001, when many of the creatures were confiscated.

Mr Shaw successfully appealed against their confiscation and the reptiles were returned to him after being examined by the RSPCA.

The court was told that the reptiles had been living in "woefully inadequate conditions in a ramshackle, dilapidated stand-alone barn".

Mr Shaw, a private collector, maintained throughout the trial that the reptiles had been looked after and that he had cleaned their cages once or twice a week.

That was backed by zoological vet Mike Linley, who told the court he believed the reptiles had been adequately cared for.

The court heard that Mr Linley, who studied under David Bellamy, had produced more than 700 wildlife documentaries for Anglia TV.

District Judge Tony Brown said he had visited the farm building where the animals were kept and had seen a massive difference in the conditions.

In his judgment, the judge said: "I don't doubt these animals are his whole life.

"To deprive him of these animals after they were returned to him would be a huge sledgehammer which is not necessary in this case.

"The reality of it is is that I have seen the farm and the collection and how they are currently being cared for. The picture I saw was very different, I imagine, to what existed in on October 11, 2001.

"It would be unfair to deprive him of the animals in these circumstances."

Mr Shaw did not want to comment after the case.

RSPCA inspector Garry Palmer said he could not comment on the cost issue of the case but said he was happy to have secured a conviction.

He told PA News: "From an animal welfare point of view the RSPCA is delighted with a conviction."

When asked his views on the sentence and the fact Shaw was allowed to keep the reptiles he replied: "All the RSPCA can do is put the case over as professionally as possible."