A WOMAN who walked an injured seagull through the streets on a lead has been banned from owning animals for a year.

Anna Marie Marshall, 44, was found with the herring gull in Parliament Street, York, on June 28 after she discovered it in Scarborough and brought it to the city on a bus.

The homeless woman pleaded guilty to verbally abusing police officers when they tried to intervene and called them “murderers” for taking the bird.

York Magistrates’ Court heard the seagull had an injured wing when Marshall found it, but she injured it further when she fell on the bird as police attempted to arrest her.

Neil Holdsworth, prosecuting, said: “She was found walking the seagull on a lead and refused to hand it over to police.

“She called them ‘murderers’ and said ‘I would rather wring its neck than let you take it away’.”

The court heard she leaned on the bird to such an extent that when it was examined by a vet, they could do nothing to save its life and the seagull was put to sleep.

Marshall, who appeared in the dock with pink and green streaks through her hair, is said to suffer from mental health problems and has lived on the streets for 10 years.

Stephen Munro, defending Marshall, said: “This is indicative of the lifestyle she has been leading. She has been on the street for 10 years and that’s taken its toll on her.

“She appears to have hallucinations and would somewhat accept that there are problems she does have, but I have not managed to glean from her what problems they are.

“It’s clear she is labouring over some troubled mind.

“She didn’t want to hand it to police because she thought they would take it to a vet and it would be put down.

“She said she was getting up off the floor and was leaning to one side, but the police were manhandling her and she struggled to get up.”

Marshall pleaded guilty to injuring a wild bird, taking a wild bird, threatening and abusive behaviour, and refusing to surrender at York Magistrates’ Court last Friday when the case was originally scheduled.

She was sentenced to a 12 month community order and prevented from looking after any animals for a year.

District Judge Adrian Lower told Marshall she was not better prepared than a vet to look after the seagull.

He added: “You took in an animal for care but had no ability to do that at all given your chaotic lifestyle.

“I can only hope you have learned from this experience and the next time you come across a sick or injured animal, however much you care for it, you will take the animal to someone better placed to care for it than you can.”