SINGAPORE, June 30 -- A lonely Singaporean man who told a court he felt sorry for caged crows because he had "no friends" has been jailed after twice vandalising an NParks bird trap to set the birds free.

According to Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao, 51-year-old Mohd Yusrin Bin Mohd Yusof was sentenced to 24 days' jail after pleading guilty to one count of mischief for disrupting the duties of a public agency. Four other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The unusual case centred on an NParks crow trap placed on a grass verge near Block 51 Havelock Road between March 1 and 7 as part of efforts to control the population of pest birds.

Court proceedings heard that shortly after midnight on March 2, Yusrin used ...