A golden eagle which was rescued after being kept caged in a armoire was now well enough to be flying alongside his new owner. Five-year old Sampson, who has a wingspan of 7 feet (2 metres), was rescued from captivity with broken wing and tail feathers having tried to escape a cramped closet, the report said. Once rescued, police handed him over to recover at the home of falconer, Jonathan Marshall. "Mentally he was very mixed up like any animal which has been mistreated. His feathers were a mess, and he had no muscle tone at all cause he had never flown, he was just stuck in a cage," Marshall said. It took Marshall four months to nurse Sampson back to health. He then taught the eagle to fly from his gloved hand, and eventually joined the bird in the sky. "When he flies alongside, he looks at me, it's like he's saying - I know it sounds very cheesy - but it's like he's saying 'Hi dad, isn't it a lovely day' you know," Marshall said. Sampson could continue to soar the skies for another 50 years.