A carpet fitter was yesterday apr 27convicted of using a homemade trap to illegally catch goldfinches in Oxford.o At Oxford Magistrates' Court, Gavin Wilkinson denied attempting to take a wild bird and possessing a trap.

He was found guilty and given a one-year conditional discharge. Security guards Francis Dowsonok and Abdul Feika told the court they saw Wilkinson, armed with binoculars and a trap, on the railway track at Oxford Science Park, Cowley.

Mr Dowson, who was on patrol at about 11am on March 3, saw the 20-year-old with two younger boys dressed in camouflage gear, said Paddy Roche, prosecuting.

He and his colleague Mr Feika watched the group on CCTV from a control room before approaching them.

Mr Dowson said: "The younger boys ran off. I questioned the older boy and asked him what he was doing. He said he was 'just watching nature'. I asked him about the cage and he started to get angry."

The guards confiscated the trap which had a live goldfinch in it and Mr Feika took a photograph of Wilkinson on his mobile phone.

They then told him to leave the park and threatened to call the police, before contacting the RSPCA. CCTV footage of the incident was accidentally erased, said Mr Roche.

RSPCA inspector Doug Davidson visited Wilkinson at his home in Alice Smith Square, Littlemore, Oxford, in March last year.

Wilkinson admitted being in the park but said he had been hunting rabbits. Wilkinson whose parents run a canary club said he had been on his own in the science park and denied owning a pair of binoculars or a bird trap.

Wilkinson was caught by the RSPCA following a tip-off from an Oxford Mail reader, who had seen our article about an appeal for information last March. Insp Davidson said goldinches could be sold for between £50 and £100.

Chairman of the magistrates Lady Stephanie North sentenced Wilkinson to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £600 costs.