A MAN has been fined £300 after pleading guilty to swallowing a live goldfish in a Neknominate challenge.

Gavin Hope, 22, was prosecuted after footage of his stunt was posted on Facebook.

RSPCA chief inspector Michelle Charlton said Hope drank a glass of water with the fish in it.

She said the video first shows the defendant preparing a pint glass with lager, chilli, tequila, a fresh egg and fish food.

Ms Charlton said: "He picks up another glass containing a small amount of water and the goldfish, which is swimming around, and shows it to the camera before drinking it down, and following it with the pint."

She said: "A vet report advised that the stomach would be a completely unsuitable place for a goldfish and that the fish would have died in time, the cause of death being a mixture of suffocation and acid ph levels in the stomach, as well as the alcohol he drank."

Hope told RSPCA inspectors that he had owned the goldfish for a couple of months. He said he thought it was ill as it kept swimming into the sides of its tank and was going to flush it down the toilet, but decided to drink it as part of his Neknomination challenge instead.

Hope told Gateshead Magistrates Court that he was ashamed of what he did and claimed it was an impulsive act which would not be repeated.

Ms Charlton said: "Eating a live animal and posting a video of it online for entertainment is not some light-hearted joke - it is unacceptable.

"The RSPCA takes the use of animals in these Neknominate challenges very seriously.

"We urge people not to involve animals in this horrible craze”.

Hope, of Lauder Way, in Pelaw, Gateshead, appeared before magistrates today, where he pleaded guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act and was also ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and £431.17 costs.