Here’s a very good example of how just how useless the court system is at addressing wildlife crime.
Last week at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court, 38-year-old Cogoo Sherman Bowen was fined £210 and given a six-week curfew after his conviction for being in possession of four x 2-week-old kestrel chicks.
He was caught with the chicks in the dead of night on 19th June in the grounds of St Mary’s Church in Bushbury. The police had been alerted to suspicious activity on the church roof and had turned up expecting to find metal thieves; instead they found the defendant in his car with the bag of kestrels.
Quick-thinking RSPCA officials and the police wildlife crime officer, PC Chris Watson, found the nest ledge on the side of the church and were able to return the chicks, which fledged safely several weeks later.
Great work by the investigating authorities but a pathetic result in terms of the magistrate providing any sort of deterrent to other would-be chick thieves or indeed a meaningful punishment to the convicted criminal in this case.
Full story in the Express and Star here
Raptor Persecution UK 
The fine could not have covered police and court costs.
That is the illogical thing about all fines. The base line should always be what it has cost to investigate and process the prosecution. Thereafter add on the punishment factor. All those involved in the criminal justice system (if it can rightfully be so called) seem to be somewhat at odds with that. No prizes for guessing why.
The only good thing hear is that the chicks were found in time & were able to be put back in their nest & fledged successfully weeks later. Big thanks to the Police & RSPCA