Students fined for sending hamster through the post

TWO Cambridge University students "let their college down" by sending a hamster through the post, a court heard yesterday.

David Jordan and James Cole, both 19 and second-year students at Churchill College, claimed to have undertaken the bizarre prank in revenge at a man who had threatened Jordan four months earlier.

Magistrates sitting in Ely, Cambridgeshire, heard that the pair carried out the cruel joke after getting "plastered" at a college garden party.

Appearing before magistrates yesterday, Jordan, of Columbine Road, Ely, and Cole, of Philpott Drive, Marchwood, Southampton, both admitted abandoning a hamster in circumstances likely to cause the animal unnecessary suffering.

Jordan was fined 750 and ordered to pay 100 towards costs. He was also banned from keeping animals for the next ten years.

Cole was fined 500 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 100. He was also banned from keeping animals for the next ten years.

The hamster survived its ordeal, but the court heard the animal could easily have died if it had gone further into the sorting chain.

After buying the animal at a local pet shop, the court heard Jordan bought an envelope and a first class stamp and the pair went into a public toilet, where they sealed the hamster in the envelope before posting it.

The animal was discovered by postman Robert Maher as he was emptying a post box in Market Square in Cambridge on 22 June.

The hamster had chewed through the envelope and its head was peeping out.

Mr Maher took it to a vet, Patrick von Heimendahl in Cambridge, where it was found to be unharmed.

The hamster has since been adopted by Rachel Thompson, a nurse at Mr von Heimendahl's practice, and has been named First Class.

Magistrates were told the rodent had a lucky escape.

In a statement, Jillian Pearson, a vet, told the court the hamster had no access to food or water and could have been crushed.

She said if it had not been spotted by Mr Maher it would have gone to the sorting office, where letters are mechanically sorted in a spinning drum before being sent on to other sorting areas.

"If the envelope had been mechanically sorted she very much suspects the hamster would have been seriously injured or killed," said Michael Taylor, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA.

The court heard an investigation by the police and RSPCA led to Jordan and Cole. The pair were interviewed and admitted posting the hamster.

Jordan told an RSPCA officer that he had carried out the prank in revenge against a man he had an argument with four months earlier.

He said the pair had been "plastered" after attending a college garden party. When asked why he gave a false name and address when purchasing the hamster, Jordan said: "Because I thought it would be a bit suspicious posting a hamster if I got caught.

"I knew I could get into trouble. I do not think it crossed my mind that it was morally wrong."

Adam Haselhurst, representing Cole, said his client accepted that he was present when the incident occurred, but said it was not his idea and he had not physically posted the hamster through the post box.

He said Cole, who is studying mathematics and is captain of Cambridge University's Tae Kwon Do club, was remorseful.

Mr Haselhurst said of the incident: "It is essentially a drunken student joke, but perhaps with a little more behind it than that.

"At the time Mr Cole says he was quite intoxicated. If he had not been so, he would not have been involved in the incident."

Christina Metcalfe, in mitigation on behalf of Jordan, said her client accepted that his actions were thoughtless and stupid.

After the hearing, Chris Nice, an RSPCA inspector, said: "Rather than a case of neglect or deliberate cruelty, this was a clear act of stupidity.

"Nevertheless, this animal was fortunate not to suffer as a consequence. Both defendants are intelligent young men who have shown poor judgment and little consideration towards the animal in question.

"Student pranks are not an excuse for dismissing the welfare of an animal," Mr Nice said.

"The court's treatment and comments are, in our view, well-balanced and reflect the seriousness with which they consider the facts of this case."