Parrot graffiti man is fined

A man was so desperate to find his missing parrot, he daubed an appeal in graffiti on walls in Colchester, and landed an £80 fine. Mark Norman, of Winnock Road, Colchester, was caught red handed by police officers in the early hours.

The 38-year-old scribbled a description of his macaw, Ozzy, and his mobile phone number around the town centre. Mr Norman, whose red and green-winged pet went missing on Wednesday, was arrested and given an on-the-spot fine.

He said: “I didn’t care about getting in trouble at the time. I was just thinking about getting my Ozzy back. I was distraught. I wrote in half a dozen places in the town and put signs up in windows.



“The police saw me doing it. I didn’t know they had turned up and I was drawing on the wall of Angel Court at the time. I was a bit worse for wear.”

But the story had a happy ending. Ozzy, who is partial to a sip of vodka and the occasional takeaway, was later spotted by a friend of Mr Norman’s on the roof of an Indian takeaway in Military Road.

Mr Norman, who has owned Ozzy for six years, said: “I am elated to have her back. I had to climb up on to the roof and get her, but it was worth it.”