Wild goose chase

Local parish council chairman Roger Deadman has been cleared of any wrongdoing after using his shotgun to shoot a Canada goose on the sixth fairway of Petersfield Golf Club, Hampshire. According to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Deadman, 70, allegedly told surprised golfers ?they are nothing but crapping machines? and that he had downloaded the necessary licences from Natural England. Aldershot Magistrates? Court found him not guilty of intentionally killing a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, deciding he had acted lawfully by killing the bird for public health and safety reasons.