34 year old Nigerian Nigel Ugambe, now resident in Birmingham England, made legal history today when the European Court of Human Rights backed his challenge to UK Laws prohibiting animal sex.

Mr Ugambe had originally been arrested, and served 9 months of a 2 year jail sentence, for buggering a goat in a public place, namely a car park at Birminghams New Street train station. However, at his trial, he had claimed that sex with a goat is an important part of his religious beliefs, and that it was “an act of purification that shamans must do prior to important rites and rituals”.

The trial judge had dismissed this and sentenced him to imprisonment, but now the EU court has over-ruled the decision, and ruled that the law unjustly impinges upon Mr Ugambes freedom of religion. The ruling is final, with no leave for the British Government to appeal.

Although it is likely that animal sex will remain a crime in British law, it seems highly likely that exemptions will have to be added for anyone whose religious beliefs require that they have intercourse with animals.

However, the European court did stipulate in its ruling that the animal sex should be carried out in private, as committing an act of buggery with wildlife in a public place could very well still be considered criminal if it offended onlookers.

A lawyer representing Mr Ugambe hailed the decision as a landmark in religious freedom, and said that Mr Ugambe now plans to sue the British government for compenastion for the time he unjustly spent in prison.