Dagenham pest controller faces jail

Court Reporter
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
5:15 PM

TWO PEST control officers who killed a pet dog and 90 wild birds with poison for their “own amusement” could face jail.

Mark Page, 35, and Terrance Webb, 28, spent their lunch breaks laying down bread laced with the pesticide Ficam-W at a beauty spot on March 8 and 9.

The pair wanted to see if the chemical, which they had stolen from their employer Newham Council, was capable of killing crows.

Instead a German Shepherd, described as its elderly owner’s “sole companion”, suffered violent convulsions and died 20 minutes after eating the poison on Wanstead Flats.

The corpses of 90 birds, including coots, moorhens, pigeons, crows and geese, were later found strewn over Alexandra Lake by the park warden.

Page and Webb both admitted theft charges and misusing Ficam-W during a short hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Ordering pre-sentence reports and bailing the men until October 18, Judge Simon Wilkinson said: “This is an unpleasant offence – all sentencing options will be open.”

Page, of Barrington Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, and Webb, of Bancroft Chase, Rush Green, both admitted two counts of using a pesticide without approval and two counts of theft.