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| Celebrity producers avoid charges | Celebrity producers avoid charges |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The producers of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! will not face charges over alleged animal cruelty on the show, Australian police have said. | The producers of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! will not face charges over alleged animal cruelty on the show, Australian police have said. |
| Charges are being brought against the winner, chef Gino D'Acampo and fellow contestant Stuart Manning after cooking a rat for a meal. | Charges are being brought against the winner, chef Gino D'Acampo and fellow contestant Stuart Manning after cooking a rat for a meal. |
| The pair have been ordered to appear in court on 3 February 2010. | The pair have been ordered to appear in court on 3 February 2010. |
| The RSPCA in New South Wales said it was "not acceptable" an animal had been killed as part of a performance. | The RSPCA in New South Wales said it was "not acceptable" an animal had been killed as part of a performance. |
| During the series, the contestants were divided into two groups, one of which was in "exile" with meagre rations. | |
| As the celebrities became concerned that they would lack the energy to complete physical challenges, D'Acampo, 33, decided to kill and eat the rat to add meat to the group's meal. | |
| He told the show's video diary room, the Bush Telegraph: "It's not done by choice but it's done because we need it. We need some kind of protein, we need some kind of flavour. | |
| "I saw one of these rats running around. I got a knife, I got its throat, I picked it up." | |
| 'Good dinner' | |
| Fellow contestant George Hamilton spoke out in defence of D'Acampo, telling the Daily Mirror that ITV producers had given them permission to eat the rodent. | |
| The actor said: "I went into the Bush Telegraph and said, 'May we eat a rat?' They were a bit shocked, thought about it and then said we could. It was a very good dinner." | |
| Chief Inspector David Oshannessy, from the RSPCA in New South Wales, told BBC Radio 5 live there was a "code of practice" which dictated how animals could be used in theatrical productions and films. | |
| Maybe the producers are at fault for not warning them - personally, I would be looking further up the field Chef and former I'm a Celebrity contestant Antony Worrall Thompson | |
| "The killing of a rat for a performance is not acceptable. The concern is this was done purely for the cameras," he said. | |
| The charity sends staff whenever animals are used for filmed or live performances, he said, and so had been in contact with the programme's producers before the rat was killed. | |
| "But we received no pre-notice or advice this segment was going to occur, it happened on a day no animals were featuring in production, so we didn't have an officer there," Chief Inspector Oshannessy added. | |
| Chef Antony Worrall Thompson, who appeared on the reality show in 2003, said the programme's producers should take some responsibility for the incident. | |
| He said an announcement was made warning him not to kill spiders because they were a protected species while he was in the camp. | |
| "Maybe the producers are at fault for not warning them," he told Sky News. "Personally, I would be looking further up the field." | |
| ITV issued a brief statement saying: "The Australian RSPCA are currently investigating an incident that a rat was killed in the camp." |