Man who swallowed goldfish in Neknomination fined
A man who swallowed a live goldfish as part of a Neknominate dare has been fined £300 after a video of the stunt was posted on Facebook.
RSPCA chief inspector Michelle Charlton said 22-year-old Gavin Hope drank a glass of water with the fish in it.
She said: "A vet report advised that the stomach would be a completely unsuitable place for a goldfish and that the fish would have died in time, the cause of death being a mixture of suffocation and acid ph levels in the stomach, as well as the alcohol he drank."
The RSPCA said Hope told them that he had owned the goldfish for a couple of months. He said he thought it was ill as it kept swimming into the sides of its tank and he was going to flush it down the toilet but decided to drink it as part of his Neknomination challenge instead.
The society said Hope, of Lauder Way, Pelaw, Gateshead, appeared before magistrates today, where he was also ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and £431.17 costs, after pleading guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act.