An Uber driver who stole a £3,000 pet parrot from a park, then released it into the wild before it was reportedly killed by a fox, has avoided jail.

Sattar Abdul, 44, attracted Sura the macaw into his car and made an unsuccessful bid to also grab another bird before making off from Richmond Park, south west London.

He then drove the exotic animal around 25 miles to his home in Chadwell Heath, east London, before returning to the park the next day to release the parrot when he realised could not care for it properly.

Sura was then said to have been mauled by a fox and died, police said.