Criminal proceedings continued on Wednesday with hearing #10 in the case against Scottish gamekeeper George Mutch, of Kildrummy Estate, Aberdeenshire.
Mutch is pleading not guilty to a suite a charges relating to offences that are alleged to have taken place over two years ago, in August 2012. The charges relate to the illegal use of a trap for the purpose of taking or killing wild birds (goshawk and buzzard) and to the killing, injuring or taking of wild birds.
This case has dragged on and on and on (see here for background) and looks set to drag on even further. Yet another intermediate diet has now been set for 15th October…
Raptor Persecution UK 
And of course eventually it will run out of time – which is obviously the tactics being used by his defence.
Can’t his defence be prosecuted for time wasting?
This case and others like are just making a laughing stock of the whole Scottish justice system.
I know nothing of the detail of this case…including why there have been so many delays..but I know how it will end..with a frustrated sheriff just wanting rid of it, with most charges being dropped, for convenience, along the way, with the sheriff wondering what all the fuss has been about. Or a defence lawyer pleading, perhaps with justification, that the defendants human rights have been breached with an unfair wait for a conclusion…This should never happen ..the only possible excuse I can think of is illness on the part of one of the principals involved…
One archive case in Scotland. if the guy is found guilty, then he should be punished. Not all shooting estates activel harm raptor species.
True Richard, but shouldn’t the ‘good guys’ be the ones to tackle these mindless bad guys? Surely they realise that mud sticks and they too will be regarded as pariah’s by the rest of humanity because of the actions of those who choose to flout the law in the full knowledge they will not be given the judicial sentences they could receive. Until the landowners also receive sanctions and the perpetrators receive jail sentences we will have to fight on – but it would be much better if the decent estate owners carried out their own ‘ethnic cleansing, rather than us conservationists having to continually scream “enough” in the vain hope of getting Ministers and the judiciary to wake up out of their stupor!
so the farce continues, two tier legal system. one law for the rich and their cronies, another for the common man
So long as preceedings were started on time, and he isn’t in custody on indictment, the time taken shouldn’t be a factor
It shouldn’t be a factor except that it’s a total farce and a complete waste of time and money. I suppose it keeps the lawyers pockets full and the “justice” department people in jobs ???
if anyones in any doubt about our two tier legal system just google loophole lawyer and look at some of the results from this search, then check back on some of the older blogs on here about cases being thrown out because they have dragged on too long or some of the pawltry fines dished out.