'Very, very angry' sleep deprived lorry driver gave cockerel named Eddy brain damage because it kept waking her up

A sleep-deprived lorry driver made a cockerel 'wobbly' and 'unable to walk' with brain damage because its constant crowing kept waking her up.

Caroline Smith said she reached the end of her tether and became 'very, very angry' when the bird - an Araucana breed - kept waking her up in the early hours of the morning.

The 52-year-old eventually resorted to taking things into her own hands when the issue wasn't resolved and she was once again disturbed by its crowing.

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She admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the bird, named Eddy, but told a court “I could have killed it if I wanted to”, reports LancsLive.

Smith was living on a house boat at moorings off Westhoughton Road, Adlington, when the bird hatched on the boat of one of her neighbours. Wigan Magistrates Court heard it was initially believed the bird was a hen - but when he began crowing early in the mornings they realised he was actually male.

The court heard this led to loud noises every morning and Smith said the sleep deprivation caused her stress and high blood pressure. She also said it affected her ability to work as a long distance lorry driver.

Prosecuting, Ann McDonald said the incident happened when Smith returned from holiday late one night in September 2022. The bird’s owner Justine Carroll was also away.

Ms Carroll had previously told her neighbour that if the crowing continued to be a problem, she would either rehouse the bird or humanely kill it.

Believing the issue would have been sorted, Smith was enraged to again be woken up early the following morning. She left her boat and reached into the bird’s cage on top of Ms Carroll’s, eventually managing to grab hold of it.

Carryin