Rare British songbirds sold in a pub in Leytonstone

A pensioner in his seventies was part of a gang who trapped hundreds of Britain’s rarest songbirds to sell them in pub, a court heard. Yellowhammers, siskins, and linnets were among the birds snatched in gardens and fields in Essex, Thames Magistrates’ Court heard. They were caught using glue sticks and bird braces then offered for sale in cages at the The Bell in Leytonstone, east London, where eight goldfinches were found in a police raid. Over 200 birds are…