Shropshire gamekeeper Neil Gordon Wainwright is to face trial accused of alleged mis-use of a Larsen trap in July 2014.
At a plea hearing at Shrewsbury Magistrates last week, Wainwright denied possessing a Larsen trap at Birch Hill Wood in Gatten, Stiperstones on 22 and 28 July 2014. He also denied charges relating to using live quail in the trap to catch wild birds.
He did, however, plead guilty to three other charges relating to the storage of firearms, ammunition, and poison. He admitted failing to comply with his firearms licence by not keeping his ammunition in a secured cabinet at his home on 5th August 2014. He also admitted failing to keep the poison Phostoxin in a secure manner on 5th August 2014.
Wainwright, 54, of Norbury near Bishop’s Castle, will next appear before a District Judge at Telford Magistrates Court on 8th May 2015.
News item from Shropshire Star Jan 2015 here
News item from Shropshire Star Feb 2015 here
Raptor Persecution UK 
The Larsen Trop surfaces again. A representative from Scotland for Animals and I found such a device with a Magpie trapped inside it; obviously a decoy for further entrapment of corvids. It was in use on one of Glasgow City Concil’s Allotments, and their Land and Environmental Services Department was informed, as the snairing, ntrapping, shooting etc of wild and domestic animals is not allowed on Council managed/owned land. The SSPCA was contacted and an officer investigated the scene.. The trap was removed.
What inspired two allotment holders to set the trap was that, being aspiring wannabe smallholders on allotments, they had decided to mimic what they had seen at some country sports fair. Their keeping of chinckens prompted a bogus concern for their birds from Crows and Magpies, which was totally unwarrnated, as their chikcens were well-locked up. What emerged from this farce was that the Strathclyde actually issued consent forms to any Tom, Dick and Harriet, who wished to set one up their respective gardens; amateurs playing as guardians of Song Birds. How would such people deal with any any animal or bird caught? Would they leave the trap untended and therefore exposing any poor creature to starve or thirst to death. A whole Pandora’s Box had opened up for those who had no real feeling for the suffering of the broad range of life forms, and so no humane problem in allowing suffering of “vermin”.
I am one of the new breed of people who are disguted with the casualness of the treatment of animals. The conservation of species has been long separated from the welfare of animals. The marriage of the two has been long overdue, if we are to save many threatened species today for trivia, such as “medicines” and aphrodisiacs, or ornamentation. Such a division has been the bane of one the world’s most prestigious conservtion groups, the WWF, which has not condemned trophy shooting, as they have seen it as a way of bringing finance to less developed regions. Allegations have been made by tribal rights groups that WWF has been implicated in the removal of tribal groups from their homelands in various parts of Africa. I have not digressed in adducing such points to back my case, that the Larsen Trsp is the toe in the door to do-it-yourself dodgy conservation of some species by untrained and ill-informed members of the public, who have beens inspsired by the work of gamekeepers giving us the lovely countryside through their vermin controls.
No one should be in a position to accumulate toxic substances, leave ammunition and fire arms without being locked up, set traps and just behave as they please. Greater accountability has to come into force with stricter lawa enforcement, and a close eye being kept on those adjudicating on country sports offenders, less they have a bias. We can no longer live in a Little Britain or Litte Scotland, as the shooting cult extends powerfully across the whole world and is worth billions. Pull the plug on the British share of it, or severely control it, would be essential to neuter this throwback to older times. We face a giant.
So if he has already pled guilty, presumably the NGO will have withdrawn their support and expelled him……..