You’d think, after the high profile conviction of gamekeeper Paul Allen two days ago, who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of wildlife, poisons and firearms offences on the Shaftesbury Estate (see here), that Dorset Police might have issued a statement.
You might think that Dorset Police would have wanted to publicise the conviction, not only to inform the public that a conviction had been secured thanks to the hard work and expertise of its wildlife crime officer Claire Dinsdale and the other partner agencies that Claire drafted in (National Wildlife Crime Unit, RSPB Investigations and Natural England), but also to send a message of deterrence to any other person thinking of committing these crimes.
It’s not as though Dorset Police doesn’t routinely publish statements on its website about other forthcoming court appearances and subsequent convictions for a wide range of offences such as assault, drug supply, sexual assault, murder, driving offences, fatal collisions etc (e.g. see here, here, here, here, here, here, here) and yet Dorset Police has remained tight-lipped about how this long and complex investigation, led by one of its own officers (the now former WCO Claire Dinsdale), resulted in seven guilty pleas at court on Wednesday.
Why would they want to keep quiet about that, do you think? It’s almost as though Dorset Police isn’t that bothered about raptor persecution, a police national wildlife crime priority.
Raptor Persecution UK 
They’re probably trying to come up with a viable explanation why such successful WCO action and co-ordination of resources should have been followed up by the cancellation of the WTSE search fiasco. Either that or they’re simply keeping their heads down in the hope that the whole business will blow over.
Yes, normally they do like to blow their own trumpet. When it comes to wildlife crime, however, perhaps the only trumpet Dorset Police want blown is a hunting horn.
The only wildlife crimes most police forces trumpet about are stopping hare coursing and badger baiting (that is, when they aren’t facilitating the execution of badgers in the unscientific and unnecessary badger cull). You will, naturally, notice that those are the pleb wildlife crimes, nothing to do with the shooting & hunting set – although, naturally, some of the foot soldier thugs have feet in all camps.
If only the police and the authorities in general, treated raptor persecution like other persistent crime. You know, the well known strategy of increasing the punishment, as a deterrent. Yet for some reason, despite using this strategy being used in every other field of crime, they forgot it here. Then there’s the well known strategy of giving the police increased powers, to stop criminals using the loopholes in the law to avoid conviction. It appears they forgot about that strategy as well. Then there is the normal strategy of dealing with organized crime, where kingpins get their lowly minions to perpetrate their crimes on their behalf. Where the authorities use the strategy of big sentences for the lowly minions, unless they cooperate and name who put them up to it, with a reduced sentence if they name those kingpins. Yet another regular crime strategy, that for whatever reason the authorities just forgot about with raptor persecution. If the police used the same strategy with drug dealing, they’d only nick the odd street dealer, and the Mr Bigs would never get convicted.
I lived and worked in conservation in Dorset for a number of years ,nature and working class people take second place to the rich and their pursuits.
The xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx are probably too highly connected politically, hence Dorset police are not keen to comment as it might upset the Chief Constable. What I don’t understand is why [Ed: rest of comment deleted as libellous]
I wonder, has the White-tailed Eagle issue been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (formerly IPCC). From what you’ve posted it seems to me that this would not be unreasonable for a number of reasons. I’m no expert but it seems possible to me that the course of justice has been perverted here.
Maybe they shoot on his estate !! OR some local MP want to keep it shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Any update on the replies to Chris Packham’s FOI request?
Pull up the sheet which the wealthy use to extract “warmth” from society and you will find it is similar relationships and dynamics that generate it.
Perhaps they think it’s a
Loder rubbish
Did anyone mention the Eagle?
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=550782860420283&set=pcb.550782970420272