Men Who Broke Into Marwell Zoo And Attacked Animals Escape Jail

Two men who broke into Marwell Zoo and threw a bottle at a giraffe leaving it with a leg injury have escaped jail.

Bradley Green, 24, and Nathan Daniels, 21, broke in on 15 February 2021 and posted footage of their attack on Snapchat.

Two clips circulated online showing a bottle being thrown at a giraffe’s head and a tiger being encouraged towards a fence which was then kicked. In both videos laughter can be heard as the incidents take place.

Today at Winchester Crown Court the pair were sentenced to a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £750 compensation each to the zoo.

This afternoon Marwell issued a statement about the incident. A spokesperson said: “Marwell Zoo would like to thank everyone involved in investigating the break-in overnight on 15 February 2021 during covid restrictions.

“We’d also like to thank Judge Richard Parkes KC for recognising the severity of what happened and the impact it had on our animals, staff, volunteers and local community, when sentencing.

“We have always worked hard to connect people with nature, whilst highlighting ways of limiting human impact on the environment and illustrating the role that species conservation and breeding plays in restoring those environments.

“It is deeply saddening to think that there are still people within our communities who do not understand the messages we work so hard to promote.

“We would like to thank everyone who sent comments, messages and donations – It really did mean a lot.”