Penguin pinchers were blind drunk - Court

Two tourists have admitted going on a vodka binge before pinching a penguin, swimming with dolphins and letting off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure at a Gold Coast theme park.

21-year-old Rhys Owen Jones, a former member of the Royal Marines, and 20-year-old bricklayer Keri Mules, have pleaded guilty in Southport Magistrates Court today to trespassing, stealing, and keeping a protected animal.

Dressed in a penguin tie, lawyer Bill Potts told the court his clients meant no harm to Dirk the fairy penguin.

And when they woke with hangovers and found the bird in their room they tried to care for it by feeding it bread and putting it in the shower.

He said their actions were immature and stupid, but there was no malice involved.

Mr Potts also tendered a letter of apology to Sea World and the Australian public.

Magistrate Brian Kucks accepted an appeal not to record convictions against the pair, because it would ruin their hopes of one day living in Australia.

But he fined them $1000 each and said they'd been lucky not to have drunkenly stumbled into the polar bear enclosure.

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