Police are on the hunt for a man from Essex who keeps dangerous reptiles, including a four foot long crocodile, in his bedroom.
Alongside the croc, 36-year-old Lee Thompson also keeps a whole host of live snakes in his sleeping quarters.
He is wanted for failing to show up at Basildon Magistrates Court on a charge of keeping the spectacled caiman without a licence.
He was convicted in his absence, and now the police are searching for him.
So, let's run through Thompson's bizarre bedfellows. As well as - and I can't stress this enough - a LIVE crocodile, he also kept a full 16 snakes that included such big-hitters cobras, copperheads, a Madagascan giant hognose (not entirely sure about that one) and a few pythons.
If that doesn't help you sleep at night, nothing will.
They were all discovered back in January at Thompson's house in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex.
Even though he wasn't present, the court still found him guilty of two counts of keeping a dangerous wild animal without a licence, two counts of breaching a disqualification, and two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Hell, if the crocodile is protected, who is protecting us?
Essex Police have issued a description of Thompson in the hope that they'll be able to catch him soon. Basically, he goes by the name 'Lee Snake', has a selection of distinctive marks - much like his beloved spectacled caiman - including a tattoo of the word 'snake' on his neck, and a tattoo of an actual snake on the side of his head.
That should mark him out in a crowd, I'd reckon.
If that doesn't do it, he's got a scorpion tattooed on the other side of his neck, a Manchester United badge on his right hand with the words 'Olivia' and 'Mason' near to it, and an eagle with the word 'mum' in it on his left arm.
If that doesn't tip you off, he's about 5"8, has short brown hair, and is of medium build. He is known to know people in Manchester, Basildon, Wickford, Laindon, and - it goes without saying - Westcliff.
Detective Constable Richard Walker said: "Mr Thompson was due to stand trial today but this morning his parents received a text from him to say that he could not go through with the trial.
"He said that he was not going to be coming to court. He left his home this morning and took his door key with him and has not been contactable since."
In fact, the police have been looking for him since 2015, when they found that he had even more live animals in his possession.
Back then, they found that he had 35 snakes - including many very venomous ones - as well as a turtle, a bullfrog, and seven spiders.
Eventually, the police got a second address, and made a shocking discovery.
DC Walker continued: "When police arrested Thompson, he was co-operative and disclosed a new address belonging to him. When officers went to the property they were extremely shocked to find a crocodile in his room.
"There was an overpowering smell of faeces and we immediately alerted the RSPCA."
RSPCA Inspector Rebecca Benson said: "Before we even entered the room we could smell a strong scent of faeces and rotting flesh. Inside the bedroom, we found the crocodile contained only in tarpaulin and flimsy wooden boards.
"The crocodile had no clean water and its heat lamp was unsecured and the animal could have easily knocked the lamp.
"None of the snakes had access to food or clean water and were being kept in plastic boxes with holes in them.
"The boxes were just piled on top of each other. Some of the snakes were alert but several had died, and their boxes were infested with maggots."
The RSPCA managed to rescue some of the snakes, as well as the crocodile.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: Essex, News, crocodile, Snakes, UK