A farmer has been convicted of recklessly disturbing a pair of breeding ospreys at Bassenthwaite, in the Lake District, in June last year.
Paul Barnes, 58, of Brook Cottage, Keswick, was today found guilty after a three-day trial at Workington Magistrates. The court heard how he had taken a group of children in his tractor and trailer close to the site, without a Schedule 1 disturbance licence, causing the birds to leave their nest.
He was fined £300 with £2,000 costs.
[Photo of the Bassenthwaite osprey pair with their offspring in 2017, photo by The Lake District Osprey Project]
The Lake District Osprey Project, a partnership between the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the Lake District National Park Authority, aims to ensure the continued success of breeding ospreys at Bassenthwaite. Since the birds returned in 2001, ospreys have raised over 30 chicks and delighted over a million visitors there.
Like all wild birds, ospreys are protected by law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is a criminal offence to harm or disturb them during the nesting period. Anyone found to have done so faces an unlimited fine and/or up to six months in jail.
There are 21 breeding pairs in England, and are worth £2million per year to the Cumbrian economy.
Annabel Rushton from the Lake District Osprey Project said: “A huge effort has been made to bring the osprey back to Cumbria and here at The Lake District Osprey Project. Local staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to ensure the birds can nest in safety, while enabling visitors to be inspired by these wonderful birds from the designated public viewpoints at Dodd Wood and Whinlatter. Barnes acted recklessly by running his own tours which did not follow the correct protocol and resulted in the disturbance of the Bassenthwaite pair of ospreys, which could have been detrimental to their breeding success.
“We would like to thank Cumbria Police for their support and diligent work in this case.”
PC Sarah Rolland of Cumbria Police said: “Laws are in place to protect all species of birds and, without these laws and their enforcement, these birds will be put at great risk. The osprey is a rare bird in the UK and therefore has a high level of legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. A disturbance like this during the nesting period could be detrimental to their breeding success and their very existence within the UK.
“In this instance, there was a clear offence of disturbing a Schedule 1 bird, whilst having young in the nest during the nesting period. This was fully investigated resulting in a charge following a CPS charging decision.
“We hope that today’s result will serve to highlight the importance of adhering to these laws and serve as a warning to others that there will be consequences if the laws are ignored or willfully broken in relation to wildlife crime.”
Lake District Osprey Project website here
UPDATE 26 March 2019: Lake District farmer’s osprey ‘disturbance’ conviction is quashed (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
So a farmer takes some kids to look at an Osprey without a sched 1 licence and gets done (by the letter of the law justifiably) yet a trail of missing Eagles, poisoned Kites, videos of Hen harriers being shot result in no prosecution, convictions or charges. Obviously the farmer didnt have any grouse shooting friends in high places.
At the risk of making an arse of myself through not being au fait with all the ins and outs of the case my thoughts concur with your post.
I also wonder if this was a straight forward case with none of the usual endless fannying about that is allowed to cause so many prosecutions to drag on forever and a day.
The key point is evidence – no doubt this was clearly witnessed by project workers, who could provide statements to the Police as to what happened, where as most wildlife crimes are not witnessed.
The law seems to have an almost preverse relationship with personal witness statements being allowed (and able to be questioned) yet excluding video evidence as being ‘unfair’
Was this man charging for “running his own tours”, and was his stupidity the cause of no breeding at this site this year? If so, he should have been jailed.
Hi Colin,
He caused the disturbance last year and the pair bred successfully.
[Ed: comment deleted but thanks for the info – it’s been passed to the RSPB Investigations Team]
Well well well he got done and rightfully so but it sure puts things into perspective when time and time again the grousers get away with much worse, about time this silly pastime was banned and I think a lot more influential people are thinking this now
That’s good too hear, made up people are being made accountable for their silly ,senseless ,stupid actions . Well done
Was this case subject to the delays and postponements that we’ve become used to seeing when gamekeepers/shooting interests are involved, aided and abetted by high powered QCs?
If he had been part of the infamous Grouse industry he would have had expensive legals and walked free !
Keep up the pressure !
this farmer was simply an easy target,no wealth no power no friends in high places
http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/farmer-reaps-awards-for-work-in-children-s-education.416348.html
Personally, I wouldn’t class this guy in with the league of the usual suspects. If he’s winning awards for biodiversity and education on a farm, it seems to me that he may, generally, be trying to adopt and educate children about more sustainable farming practices. I hope I’m right.
I ive met him once. He has erected a large nest platform for Ospreys on his own land, which can be seen from the A66 before the trees come into leaf. Read the above link, this gives more idea of him.
So it seems at heart he’s actually a bit of a conservationist and do-gooder, even if he foolishly got a bit carried away on this occasion.
No wonder the prosecution went so smoothly…
When the ospreys First returned to this site in 2001 you could see the nest from a layby for free authorities got this this layby closed and a view point set up with a cover charge to view its all about money gud luck to the farmer hope one nests on his own land
You have to assume that this was a continuing pattern of behaviour rather than a one off and that he’d been warned of the consequences of his activities both for the birds and himself and had refused to desist, otherwise the prosecution seems a bit heavy handed.
Actually he has never had any guidance from any of the project partners on disturbance distances, impacts and what operations can take place on his farm which is his livelihood. The artificial platform is erected within 7m of his boundary on an adjacent property. Monitored by the project team for disturbance issues but never spoken to in 7 years and the birds fledged chicks each year.
Antony Burgess August 16, 2020
Although I think we should keep reasonable distance from these birds I watch ospreys all over the world in many countries there are actually nesting in car parks above superstores and highways and people milling around all the time in some of the busiest place in the world has no effect the birds thay do well. I remember visiting Wales on one occasion although I’ve been many times the guy was whispering why are you whispering he didn’t want to disturb the birds 500 yards or more away. Can’t help thinking this guy may have got a little too close. Certainly not necessary for such a sentence. A caution would have been in order this man is into wildlife even has a platform on his property are you going to be prosecuting for that it would be too close to his home rubbish.
Hi Antony,
According to a member of the RSPB Investigations Team who was in court and heard all the evidence, the defendant had refused to accept a police caution and that’s why this case ended up in court.
Blimey.This sounds more like a political argument than raptor persecution and he lost and has to pay £2,000 costs presumably because of the 3 days of court time?
Your facts are wrong, I suggest contacting the defence team for an answer to the RSPB comment
I’m no expert but I suspect there’s a difference between ospreys chosing to nest in busy locations, as you’ve seen elsewhere, and chosing to nest in quiet locations, as may be the norm in the UK. Perhaps a history of persecution still resonates in their instincts.
Sog.I’m not an expert the common sense should prevail in watching them all over the world as I do very few seem to nesting natural habitat. Platforms all over the world so that’s not choice it’s an easy option for the bird they choose to use them are some that nest in natural environments they do in parts of Scotland Rutland and other parts of the world but 95% nest on man-made platforms yes let’s protect them don’t go over the top get the people that are killing birds on purpose
I’m usually a silent follower of this blog but I wanted to post something this time because I’ve known Paul all my life, I grew up in Braithwaite and he is nowhere near the sort of person that we usually see described on here. Yes he acted recklessly and has rightly been fined for it but like someone else pointed out had he had friends in high places this would have been a different story. I hope he can continue with the great work he does for the local kids.
Yes Laura I say you’re about right is a shame people that know him were not allowed to speak up for him I know him but I think this is I’m just
Well that certainly taught him a lesson he won’t forget – talk about alienating someone who seems to be a jolly good egg all round really. I’d better turn myself in now for walking on a popular core footpath under a nest, driving on a public road within 20yds of another different nest and walking beneath a pylon with a nest on it on a NTS circular walk. And all of these nest have been successful this year as well as the one up a Larch tree in a field near me where the farmer regularly drives around and about checking the sheep. But this is Scotland where, perhaps, our Ospreys are a bit more laid back. Well done all concerned for this successful prosecution and doubles all round. Pip.