Convicted paedophile flew drone over school and followed crying child
A convicted paedophile flew a drone over a school and used it to ‘watch’ children, a court has heard.
Prosecutors said Jeremy Bird, 47, caused one pupil at Pembroke Park Primary School in Salisbury.to ‘run and cry’ as the device ‘followed’ them.
He pleaded guilty at Salisbury Magistrates Court to a charge of recklessly or negligently causing or permitting an aircraft to endanger a person or property.
The court heard he ‘accepts’ flying the drone but claimed in interviews he ‘didn’t have any control’ it.
He insisted he only pleaded guilty because he didn’t have the ‘appropriate qualification’ to fly it.
Elizabeth Valera, prosecuting, said Bird had previously tried to talk to primary school children outside of the school.
At a separate hearing in Winchester Crown Court, Hants, Bird also pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent photographs.
These included Category A images, which are the most serious kind.
Bird was previously convicted of possessing indecent images in 2011, and was handed a community order.
He is due to be sentenced over the latest offences at Salisbury Crown Court on July 18.
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