'Irresponsible' man kept alligator in flat

British animal welfare officers called the actions of a man who kept a 1.2m alligator in a 15th-floor flat "irresponsible and dangerous".

Anthony Quinn, 34, from Leith, Edinburgh, was caught with the alligator by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Officers were alerted after they spotted an advert which Quinn had placed in a magazine trying to sell the reptile for £175 ($480).

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court Quinn pleaded guilty to keeping a dangerous wild animal in his flat. In his defence, it was said that he lived alone and that no one else had been put in danger.