Co Antrim man who kicked in door claimed he was worried about a 'parrot'
A man who caused £300 worth of damage after a door was kicked open in Randalstown was retrieving a "parrot", a court heard.
Michael McCarron (63), with an address given as The Parade in Randalstown, was sentenced on a charge of causing criminal damage to a door on April 10 last year.
Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told CCTV showed two people at a property.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the case involved "kicking someone's door down," and added: "I know the tenant wasn't getting things back. There was a bird or a parrot or something but there are ways of dealing with things - you contact the animal welfare people of the council.
"There are ways to resolve disputes. Kicking the door down is not the way to do it."
A defence barrister said the defendant had been "trying to assist somebody else". He said the defendant tried to fix the door.
He said his client has "lost his tenancy" and has been "living in a caravan". The defendant had 57 previous convictions.
Handing down a four months prison term, suspended for two years, and ordering the defendant to pay compensation of £300 for the damaged door, the judge told him: "You shouldn't have kicked the door down. You may have thought you had good reason but you didn't."
The defendant had already been on a suspended sentence but the judge said he would not activate it as it was for a "different type of offence" and the defendant has also now paid £300 restitution.