Cockerel Wars: The JP Strikes Back
Regular readers will recall Charlie the cockerel, whose 30 decibel call disturbed the sleep of neighbours in Selkirk (Cockerel Wars: The Phantom Menace). Attempts to obtain an anti-social behaviour order were put on hold following agreement between Charlie's owner – Kenneth "Ozzie" Williamson – and the neighbours that Charlie be kept in a lightproof shed during evening hours (Cockerel Wars: A New Hope). However, as we reported in January it was alleged that the court order buttressing this agreement had been breached and a report had been sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
Mr Williamson appeared in the Justice of the Peace Court in Selkirk in early August and admitted breaching the court order. He was meant to have erected a lightproof shed to house 5 year old Charlie (and geese) in a field some distance from a local bed and breakfast establishment. Mr Williamson erected the shed in his back-garden, breaching the Civic Government (Scotland) Act. It is reported that Mr Williamson will be sentenced in early September.