BIRD THIEF S ORDERED TO PAY £27K

A MAN convicted of illegally flogging peregrine falcon chicks has been ordered to pay back £27,000 he made from selling the birds of prey.

- RUTH SUTER

Lewis Hall sold the birds snatched from the wild from his home in Berwick-UponTweed, Northumberland, for sums of up to £25,700.

Hall, 24, was brought to justice earlier this year after DNA evidence taken from the nests of birds linked back to him.

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work over 15 months during sentencing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year.

Additionally, Hall was banned from possessing or having any bird of prey under his control for five years.

The figure Hall will be expected to pay back was based on an amount the court deems as being available.

Court papers show Hall accepted he benefited from "general criminal conduct" by about £110,000.