Noisy peacocks: Sleep-deprived couple wins £3k for psychological damages
A couple from Marseille, in the south of France, has successfully sued its local town hall for psychological damages caused by a noisy peacock.
The couple claims to have suffered problems including sleep deprivation and depression because of the terrible noise caused by the bird, which was a gift given to the mayor of the town, reports local newspaper La Provence.
According to the Daily Mail, the peacock had escaped its pen on numerous occasions and regularly ran loose in the neighbourhood of the Ninth district of the city, next to the Maison Blanche park.
It would squawk and parade in people's gardens, drawing dozens of complaints.
The distraught couple went to court, complete with medical documents which proved that they had both been suffering from insomnia and depression because of the shrill cries it made while it was running free.
They had resorted to paying for therapy to help them deal with the problems.
The couple first took their case to court in 2012 but were only awarded £82 in compensation.
Furious, they fought again and reopened the case this year and, after claiming legal costs, received a total payout of 4,000 Euros (£3,316).
The errant peacock has now been recaptured and relocated to a farm outside the city.
The peacock's call is notoriously loud and this is not the first time their noise has caused problems.
In 2007, Paignton Zoo in Devon slaughtered seven peacocks which had escaped and taken up residence in the gardens of neighbouring houses.
Zookeepers were unable to get them to return home, and eventually the birds were killed by lethal injection.
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