Month: January 2021

Press release from National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), 18th January 2021

New lead for National Wildlife Crime Unit

Today marks the arrival of a new head of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Chief Inspector Kevin Kelly.

Chief Inspector Kelly joins the national unit from his home force North Yorkshire Police. Ch Insp Kelly, who currently chairs the UK Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group, has been a prominent figure in the wildlife crime arena for a number of years, seeing him become a highly decorated enforcer.

The NWCU is an intelligence and investigative support function that oversees and helps police forces implement the UK wildlife crime strategy set by the NPCC. The NWCU oversees the running and support of the Priority Delivery Groups for wildlife crime and works closely with advisory bodies and government agencies to support enforcement.

Chief Inspector Kelly says “I’m delighted, but there’s no time for complacency as this is going to be a tough role. I have spent all my service working in the fight against wildlife crime and to take this national role is a privilege. Today is a good day for our animals who are harmed or exploited and a bad day for criminals. I intend to lead this unit from the front, being visible on the ground and supporting colleagues with enforcement across the UK. Many people who abuse and exploit animals will abuse and exploit people, and I want to continue to show that when we effectively enforce wildlife crime, this feeds into the wider policing picture, both in the UK and internationally.

“I also have a strong belief in partnership working. Effective partnerships help provide good practice and accountability and I want to see this built up nationally”.  

ENDS

This is a very welcome appointment. Kev has a great deal of experience of tackling illegal raptor persecution from his time spent on North Yorkshire Police’s rural taskforce. He’s renowned for his enthusiasm, energy and determination and is highly respected by those at the front end of the conservation community.

Best of luck to him.

Statement from Wild Justice (18th January 2021):

Further success on General Licences – this time in Wales

Earlier this morning, His Honour Justice Jarman handed down his judgment on Wild Justice’s judicial review of Natural Resources Wales’s general licences. His judgment further limits the casual killing of birds under general licences and has implications for general licences in other parts of the UK. 

Wild Justice is delighted at the content of the judgment, and its implications, even though the judge did not go as far as saying that the current licences are unlawful.  

The judgment: The Wild Justice challenge of the Welsh general licences concerned the circumstances under which the licences can lawfully be used. And our main concerns were about the conservation licence (GL004) which authorises the killing of four corvid species (Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw and Jay) for the purpose of conserving wild birds.  

The judgment considered the following; ‘For example, carrion crows, of which there are about 20,000 pairs in Wales, prey upon the eggs and chicks of ground nesting birds, such as curlews, of which there are less than 400 pairs left in Wales‘ and later stated ‘Thus, in the example given above NRW accepts that the relevant licence (004) should be used only to kill crows during the months between egg laying and when the chicks are well grown, namely April to July, and only in those areas where curlews nest, which do not extend to urban areas. It should not permit someone to kill a crow in the autumn or in an urban area on the basis that that bird might someday at some place take a curlew’s egg or chick‘.

In other words, you can only kill Carrion Crows under this licence where the Carrion Crows are a present danger to species of conservation concern – in those places at those times. Wild Justice believes that this is a highly significant and very welcome clarification.  

Justice Jarman further wrote ‘Written evidence was filed on behalf of WJ by one of its directors, Dr Mark Avery, on behalf of NRW by one of its managers Dr Sarah Wood, and on behalf of BASC by Glyn Evans, one of its heads. Whilst there was some disagreement between Dr Avery and Dr Wood, there was little if any difference between them on how the licences given for the purposes stated in them should work in practice. Mr Wolfe [counsel for Wild Justice] made it clear that WJ welcomed such clarification but submits that these clarifications should have been expressly imported into the wording of the licences. He points to the fact that Mr Evans interprets the licences more widely than NRW, and submits that that is a cogent reason why the licences should specify the circumstances of their use in greater detail‘. 

In other words, the licensing authority (NRW) agrees with Wild Justice that the licence should only be used where there is a ‘present risk’, and the court agrees with us both, but BASC had a different view which was rejected by the court.  

ENDS

For further commentary on this judgement and what Wild Justice suggests should happen now, please read this piece on Wild Justice’s blog.

Press release from National Wildlife Crime Unit & Nature Scot (formerly SNH), 15 January 2021

Tackling raptor persecution, poaching and hare coursing will be the top priorities for a new wildlife crime specialist covering all of Scotland, appointed late last year.

As the Investigative Support Officer for Scotland for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), PC Gavin Ross will be a source of expertise in wildlife crime at both the local and national level. He will work with individual police wildlife liaison officers, NGOs, the Scottish Government, NatureScot, RSPB, the SSPCA and Scottish Land and Estates. The position is funded by NatureScot.

PC Ross was the local community police officer for Dunbar, and has 21 years of police service and an extensive background in wildlife crime issues, community policing, problem solving and educational work.

Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment, Ben Macpherson, said: “Wildlife crime is despicable and tackling it has been a long-standing priority for the Scottish Government. We work closely with a number of agencies to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice. The Animals and Wildlife Act, which recently became law, increases the maximum penalties for the most serious wildlife crimes and extends the time available to Police Scotland to investigate.

“The work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit is hugely valued by communities across Scotland and we are committed to supporting it. I look forward to working with PC Ross in the future and congratulate him on his new role.”

PC Ross said: “When I was in Edinburgh, very early in my service, I became involved in investigating wildlife crime because of my interest and experience in this area. I’ve been a part-time wildlife crime officer throughout my whole service and the new job is the pinnacle of my career. I worked very hard preparing for my interview and was very keen to secure the job, which is a dream post. I am looking forward to settling into the role and working with all the different partner agencies which are so important in the fight against wildlife crime.

“In the six weeks I’ve been in post I’ve concentrated on meeting many of the partner agencies we work with in wildlife crime. Unfortunately most of the meetings have had to be done virtually but I feel they have all been really positive and I look forward to building on these initial foundations, especially when we can meet face to face.”

The Head of the NWCU, Ch Insp Hubble said, “I was extremely pleased when PC Ross was successfully appointed as our new Scottish ISO and I am sure he is going to be a valuable asset to policing wildlife crime.”

Andy Turner, NatureScot Wildlife Crime Officer added: “Eliminating wildlife crime is huge priority for us, which is why we’ve provided funding for this post since 2014. Wildlife crime doesn’t just cause irreparable damage to Scotland’s nature: it also affects tourism, which in turn impacts on the economy. We are committed to working with NWCU, Police Scotland and other members of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW Scotland) to tackle this challenging issue.

“We worked closely with Gavin’s predecessor Charlie Everitt to prevent wildlife crime and raise awareness.  I look forward to continuing to this important work with Gavin and the NWCU in the future.”

NWCU’s main role is to assist in the prevention and detection of wildlife crime by obtaining and distributing information from a wide range of organisations and by helping police forces investigate wildlife crimes. NWCU also produce analysis which highlights local or national threats.

The appointment of PC Ross comes after the retirement of PC Charlie Everitt, who had spent the last 11 years developing the role of Scottish ISO within the National Wildlife Crime Unit. Charlie furthered countless operations, provided expert advice to police wildlife liaison officers and acted as the key central point of contact between the police and a vast range of partner agencies. Charlie was well known throughout the Scottish wildlife crime arena and his professional knowledge, enthusiasm, and willingness to assist were beyond question. PC Ross recognised he had “big shoes to fill.”

ENDS