Ex-Royal Marine and bricklayer fined for abducting flippered celebrity Dirk from SeaWorld theme park on Gold Coast
Two British tourists who broke into a Australian theme park and stole a penguin named Dirk after a drunken night out have each been fined A$1,000 (£637).
Rhys Owen Jones, 21, and Keri Mules, 20, appeared before magistrates in Brisbane on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to trespassing, stealing and keeping a protected animal, Australia's justice department said.
The two friends, from south Wales, were arrested after breaking into SeaWorld on Queensland's Gold Coast during an alcohol-fuelled escapade on 14 April. They also swam with dolphins and let off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure while filming the footage on their mobile phones, according to the AAP news agency.
Jones, reported to be a former British Royal Marine, and Mules, said to be a bricklayer, were in Australia on a working holiday visa.
They snuck into the animal park along with Australian James Vasilj, 18, after drinking 1.5 litres of vodka between them at a beach party, the news agency AAP reported.
The two Welshmen then snatched a fairy penguin called Dirk from an aquarium before waking up with the flightless bird in their apartment the next day.
The friends' legal representative told Southport magistrates court they had meant no harm to the animal and tried to care for it by feeding it and putting it in the shower when they woke up with hangovers.
They later released Dirk into a canal but were spotted by locals, who reported them to police.
The seven-year-old bird was rescued and returned to SeaWorld unharmed to be reunited with his girlfriend, Peaches.
Magistrate Brian Kucks was told the tourists' actions were immature and stupid but there was no malice involved.
He heard they had written a letter of apology to SeaWorld and the Australian public and deeply regretted their actions.
Kucks accepted an appeal not to record convictions against the pair. "You could have found yourselves in a morgue if you'd gone into the wrong enclosure," the magistrate said. "Perhaps next time you are at a party you will consider drinking a little less vodka."
Vasilj, who is facing a single charge of trespassing, had his case adjourned until 27 January.