Man Convicted of Killing 189 Seagulls

September 17, 2007 (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia man has been found guilty of driving his truck into a flock of seagulls, slaughtering dozens of them.

Fifty-year-old Daniel Gallagher was charged with killing 189 of the protected birds last year outside the Packer Marine Terminal.

A judge convicted Gallagher and fined him $14,175 - or $75 per bird.

Gallagher is the president of an International Longshoreman's Union local.

The judge also ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution for the company-owned pick-up truck damaged when he plowed into the birds and crashed into a trailer chassis.

Gallagher had claimed that he lost control of the vehicle when he tried to grab a spilling coffee cup in February 2006.

Prosecutors showed a videotape of a 200-foot path of dead birds to demonstrate that Gallagher "went out of his way" to hit them. Prosecutors sought $47,800 in fines. Municipal Court Judge Deborah Shelton Griffin rejected that figure, saying she believed the bird massacre was the result of an accident.

Gallagher's lawyer, S. Philip Steinberg, said he would appeal and seek a trial in Common Pleas Court.

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Some information from The Associated Press.

(Copyright 2007 by Action News and 6abc. All Rights Reserved.)

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