An 80-year-old man died after being attacked by a flock of seagulls outside his home in Anglesey, north Wales. Wilfred Roby, a former ambulance driver, suffered a suspected heart attack when the birds knocked him off a wall, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident occurred on Wednesday on the Craig Y Don estate in Benllech. Neighbours said Mr Roby was trying to clean bird droppings from his garage roof when he disturbed a nest of chicks. The parent birds, joined by other gulls, swooped on him, causing him to lose his balance and fall.
David Roberts, a neighbour, said: 'There was a seagull nest on the roof of Wilf's garage and he was always really annoyed by all the droppings. He was standing on a 2ft-high garden wall poking at the chicks with a stick, trying to shoo them away, and while the chicks were scared off, their parents were very upset.'
Another neighbour, Brian Sowter, said he saw Mr Roby in the garden earlier and advised him to leave the birds alone. 'I followed and saw Wilf on the ground, so I dialled 999 and went to help. While we were there with him, the gulls were still coming down and screeching and attacking us,' he said.
Following the death, residents criticised Anglesey council for failing to address the seagull problem. Glenda Jones said the council appeared more concerned about the birds' safety than residents'. RSPCA manager Kate Davies said the charity dealt with around 1,700 calls about seagulls in Wales last year and noted that parent birds will swoop to protect their young.
