Derbyshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team has appealed for information following the discovery of a shot & injured buzzard and a magpie.
[Photo of the shot buzzard via Derbyshire Constabulary]
Both birds were found by a member of the public on 24th March 2022 at the cemetery, Newhall, Swadlincote. Both birds were alive and were taken for veterinary attention, where they were confirmed to have been shot.
Derbyshire Police published an appeal for information on 30th March 2022 which said, ‘Local enquiries are being made however should anybody have knowledge or information regarding who is responsible for shooting the birds please contact us quoting crime reference 22000171170‘.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Eight weeks to appeal for information? Again?
Hi Paul,
No, Derbyshire Police appealed for info 6 days later (30th March). The incident has only just been brought to my attention, hence today’s blog.
Whoops, must be bedtime:(
Still – why 6 days? That’s at least 5 too many
When are the powers that be ever going to do something to prevent these atrocities one wonders?
It seems to be almost a daily occurrence of late sadly. I hope that both buzzard and magpie survive and are able to be freed to the wild again.
Newhall cemetery is in the middle of an urban area, and also a public space.
There are numerous potential serious firearms offences being committed by shooting these birds in such a location.
I wonder if Derbyshire Police are treating this incident as a wildlife crime, or looking at the far more serious crimes involving firearms, with the potential risk that members of the public could also have been shot or injured, when someone discharges a firearm in an urban environment?
Newhall cemetery is surrounded by houses. With such a proliferation of houses nearby I would be hopeful someone saw or heard someone with a gun. I wonder if house to house enquiries were conducted? I think most members of the public would be concerned if they thought someone was out in their neighbourhood shooting with a gun regardless of the type of firearm involved.
Whilst we are not told whether the injuries suffered by the birds were consistent with shotgun or air rifle pellets, I also wonder whether registered firearm owners in the area were visited?
Hopefully these enquiries were carried out, but that could depend on the mindset of the officers involved, and whether the matter was being treated as a firearms incident or wildlife incident.
The fact the press appeal appears to have been released by the Rural Crime team, rather than the local Community team might suggest that the firearms offences are being considered secondary to the wildlife offences, which is perhaps the wrong way round when it comes to the deployment of police resources?
(I am not decrying the seriousness of wildlife crimes, but in the hierarchy of police matters, wildlife incidents are much further down the scale than other crimes, which is why when firearms are used to commit wildlife crimes, the focus should perhaps be on the firearms aspect, rather than the wildlife aspect, as this might result in senior police management making more resources available to an investigation?)