Shock and macaw: bizarre case sees woman admit stealing parrot

A woman has avoided a jail term after she admitted stealing a parrot.

Tandy Swinton appeared from custody for sentencing on the unusual charge, as well as further offences of stealing a mobile phone and fraudulently obtaining cash from a furniture store. She admitted stealing the bird from a home on Atholl Street, Dundee, on April 19.

The theft came just weeks after she fraudulently obtained £75 in cash from a furniture store on Lochee High Street, Dundee, on March 30.

At Dundee Sheriff Court, Swinton also admitted a third charge of stealing a mobile phone at an address in McLaren Gardens, Dundee, on December 29.

Swinton, 33, of Elders Court, Dundee, pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and one of fraud.

Sheriff Alistair Carmichael imposed a three-month restriction of liberty order on Swinton, confining her to her home address between 7pm and 7am for three months. The sentence will commence when she is released from jail after her current sentence.