How parrot Ozzy landed Mark with an £80 police fine (From Gazette)

How parrot Ozzy landed Mark with an £80 police fine

9:00am Saturday 4th April 2009 in News

Reunited - Mark Norman with his pet macaw Ozzy, who went missing and sparked Mark’s graffiti appeal

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 of yesterday.

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.”

Debbie Chisholm, spokeswoman for Essex Police, said: “Police were alerted by CCTV operators in the early hours of Thursday, that a man was writing graffiti on a building in Colchester.

“The man had sprayed graffiti on Colchester Council’s offices in Angel Court. Officers attended the scene at 1.10am and issued the man with a £80 fixed penalty notice.

“The man had also sprayed graffiti on two walls in Long Wyre Street.”

Insp Paul Butcher, from Essex Police, said: “Graffiti will not be tolerated in Colchester town.”

“Not only does it take time and money to remove it but it can also be intimidating to passers-by.

“Anyone caught spraying graffiti will be dealt with robustly.”