Ram raider accused of baa-d behaviour (From Stroud News and Journal)

Ram raider accused of baa-d behaviour

ASBOs are usually reserved for petty criminals who just do not know how to behave. But the SNJ has learned how the black sheep of one family had to clear his name and prove he was not a ram raider.

Sam Bond reports on the unusual suspect's efforts to clear his name. Ewe couldn't make it up...

The case against Colin the sheep was always a bit woolly if not to say a touch baa-rmy.

With the threat of an ASBO looming after being blamed for munching through the flowers at Stroud's Cemetery, Colin was in danger of facing a life behind baa-s.

For years owner Treena de Buriatte has regularly walked Colin on a lead through the cemetery in Bisley Road without any sign of baa-d behaviour.

But when the flowers started disappearing, Colin became a prime suspect.

With local feeling against the sheep running high, Stroud District Council's antisocial behaviour co-ordinator, Colin Peake, paid the pair a visit.

Mr Peake who is used to drawing up conditions for Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) immediately banned the other Colin from entering the cemetery.

But with Treena protesting the sheep's innocence, a watch was set up at the graveyard to get to make sure the pair were not trying to pull the wool over the council's eyes.

Fortunately for Colin a pair of marauding deer were spotted hopping over the wall and tucking into the flowers.

Now Colin has been cleared of the crime and is once again allowed in the cemetery. A relieved Treena said of her unusual pet: "I've had him since he was a baby." "A friend of mine owns a lot of sheep and when one of them died while giving birth I said I'd look after the lamb."

Since then Colin has made friends with Treena's three Labradors and has become a dog in sheep's clothing.

When he was a lamb he would curl up to sleep in the dog basket with one of Treena's four cats.

"I'm sure he thinks he's part dog, part cat, part human," said Treena.

Other dogs often do a double take when they see the sheep out for walks on a lead. But while Colin may not have been grazing on a bed of roses, he does have some unusual tastes for a sheep.

Apart from hay donated by friendly farmers and pellets and grass Colin also likes to washes down his favourite snacks of digestive biscuits and Walkers crisps with a bottle of tea and ends his day with a bottle of milk.

And he has also changed what is on the menu in Treena's kitchen. "I can't eat lamb any more," said Treena. "It wouldn't feel right."