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During the 1940s, Joey the Crow was a familiar sight on the streets of Hucknall in Nottinghamshire - that's until the butcher put an end to him with a meat cleaver. Gordon Riley, Joey's owner tells Home Truths the whole story…

Joey the crow was a few weeks old when he fell out of his nest and had the good fortune to be rescued by a local lad, Gordon Riley. Gordon reared Joey, who became part of the Riley household, "Joey would step onto the windowsill" recalls Gordon, " and peck on the window - we'd open the back door and in he'd fly."

Joey was a familiar sight in the area. He liked people, and children were especially fond of him. He'd fly round the schools in the area, visit the market on a Friday, and was often seen riding on the handlebars of Gordon's bike. He even tried, on occasion, to catch the bus to nearby Mansfield. Rather unfairly, he wasn't allowed on board and had to hitch a ride on top.

One day, Joey's happy, sociable life was tragically cut short. A local butcher claimed that Joey was trying to pinch a piece of bacon, and in attempting to shoo him off the meat, his 'knife slipped' and Joey was killed. Retribution was swift. The butcher was run out of town after the death of Joey. "Children wrote 'killer' on the butcher's window - 3 or 4 weeks later, he left the place…" says Gordon.

The funeral arrangements for Joey were elaborate. Rolls Royce, based in Hucknall, made the much-mourned crow a coffin. Gordon recalls, "Joey was laid in state for a week in Sketchley's window. Crowds stopped and looked at him." A notice was put up that Joey's burial would take place, "where Joey was brought up" - in the Riley's back garden. "The lane where we lived", says Gordon, "was completely full, there must've been two or three hundred there. It was a very emotional affair. He was the town's bird." Ìý

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