Further to the criminal conviction yesterday of gamekeeper Francis Addison from Weeting, near Thetford in relation to the discovery of five shot goshawks in January this year (see here), there was excellent coverage on BBC’s Look East yesterday evening.
It’s available on iPlayer (here, starts 05.53 mins) but only until this evening, so here is a transcript of the two-minute piece:
A part-time gamekeeper who admitted dumping dead birds of prey in a parking area in Suffolk has been given a suspended prison sentence.
The five goshawk carcasses were found in January. Francis Addison who’s 72 and from Weeting, near Thetford, denied shooting them. Our Environment reporter Richard Daniels sent this report from Norwich Magistrates Court.
It was a shocking discovery. Five goshawks dumped in a public area near Wordwell in Suffolk. All had been shot. When police swabbed them for DNA it led them to the home of Francis Addison, an ex-military weapons instructor and part-time gamekeeper.
Today, Addison arrived at court facing 19 charges, including possession of the goshawks and various firearms offences.
Addison’s defence told magistrates he found the five goshawk carcasses while out walking his dog. He put them in a bag and took them home. [Ed: according to this BBC article, Addison claimed he was intending to give them to the BTO]. But when a friend told him that it was illegal to have them, he took fright and returned them to the spot where he found them.
Once driven to extinction through persecution, goshawks are some of our most protected birds. The court was told there were believed to be as few as 33 living in Suffolk.
[Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer]: “It’s illegal to possess these birds. However, we still don’t know who killed these goshawk and there is a reward available, still, for anybody that comes forward with information leading to the conviction of somebody for that offence”.
When the police searched Addison’s home they found his gun cabinet unlocked with ammunition stored in cupboards and in his car.
[Sgt Brian Calver, Suffolk Police]: “If the house got burgled then they had access to a rifle, four shotguns, all the ammunition in the world. Gun ownership is a privilege, not a right, that’s one of the conditions on everyone’s licence to make sure that you keep those guns as secure as possible at all times”.
Addison was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence. He was told he’d shown a total disregard and disdain towards his licensing requirements. His firearm and shotgun certificates have been revoked.
Richard Daniel, BBC Look East, Norwich Magistrates Court.
ENDS
I’m so pleased to learn that Addison ‘found’ the five shot goshawks on his dog walk and that their deaths had nothing whatsoever to do with his cage traps, dead woodpigeon and guns. Phew! Seems he’s just an unlucky chap, not a raptor-killing bastard.
UPDATE 30th June 2023: Criminal gamekeepers Addison & Stroud both linked to Fengate Farm in Weeting, Norfolk (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
Glad to see that his firearms and shotgun certificates were revoked. Effectively, he won’t be much use for ‘keepering!
Your finished Addison !!
Aye, one bad apple down…only another 1500-2000 to go!
Firearms “secure as possible at all times”. This won’t occur until Licensing Officers have the time / manpower (and the will) to do a lot more random visits / spot-checks to a lot more Certificate holders houses, instead of by appointments and prearranged visits.
Hey spaghnum, random visits are done by FEO’s, which are on the spot with no warning. These however are infrequent and usually only when suspicion has been raised or incident.
We are saying the same thing then? re. your second sentence is correct and agrees with my point. I know two people in 35+ years who have got a shock and had a random / non-prearranged visit. I also know one police force that nobody can ever bring to mind ever having done one! Cumbria did some after Derrick Bird, but generally they are so rare that nobody’s behaviour is influenced by the prospect of them. It does nothing to change the attitude of, (mainly) people who around guns all the time and are very lackadaisical / casual about security.
Root and branch reform is required, and I personally would be happy to pay double the fees for a solid, consistent system across the country.
I have a strong suspicion that when this ignorant xxxxx, sorry upstanding member of the shooting fraternity “found” those goshawks they were still alive. Let’s hope any reapplication for his gun licenses will be refused.
Do we know who his barrister was? Has he history for the landed gentry? Is Addison a friend of the local MP? It’s just that I smell big money.
Maybe gamekeepers are the wrong target, maybe we should be targeting the magistrates?
Again… AGAIN with the firearms offences! Notwithstanding the heinous nature of the crime regarding the goshawks (no proof ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ of who actually pulled the trigger), what we see here is an appalling attitude to gun safety. And this man was ex-Army where I know (from experience) that weapons safety is drummed into soldiers from the day they arrive.
It seems there is a thread running through these cases that is characterised by callousness, arrogance and utter contempt for basic rules of both law and public safety. These people seem to live in a parallel reality whereby they think they can do whatever they want and that (somehow?) living in the countryside gives them ‘permission’ to behave like this.
A new government consultation on firearms licencing (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/firearms-licensing-recommendations-for-changes) has been launched in the wake of the Plymouth shooting incident. I think we should all respond to this and quote from some of the many reports on this (most excellent!) blog quoting the cases whereby the criminality of raptor persecution appears to go hand-in-hand with what I see as criminal negligence in the handling of firearms.
imagine that???? A gamekeeper who is unaware that having 5 dead Goshawks in his possession is against the law. Maybe that’s why so many Raptors are shot…….gamekeepers are unaware it is illegal to shoot them. BOLLOCKS
How many people, if they “find” 5 Goshawks, stuff them in a bag and take them home??? I would suggest “zero” but it appears the magistrate believes it is perfectly acceptable and normal.
Again BOLLOCKS.
Press reports say that police were able to identify Addison through his DNA. Why would they have his DNA on record?
I doubt that they would have but it is now standard procedure for many Police Forces to take a dna sample when a suspect is charged with an offence. This has the added benefit, from an authoritarian point of view, of having an emerging data base of the populations dna, which, if found not guilty, is supposed to be destroyed which doesn’t always happen as recent disputes in this area have shown.
Addison will be banned from bearing a firearm even if it is not Owned by him. But loaned?
Will he?
I find it surprising that someone living in Weeting drives to the south end of Kings Forest to take the dog for a walk when there are numerous tracks through Thetford Forest within two miles of Weeting village.
Do existing laws allow for a lifetime ban on gun ownership? The xxxxx in question is 72 – is there an age beyond which gun ownership isn’t allowed?
I believe it’s a decision made by the Chief Constable of that County. It would be interesting to know what guidance they follow in making their decision. Perhaps someone with clout, the RSPB perhaps, might ask?
“Do existing laws allow for a lifetime ban on gun ownership?”
Not for this offence (5 years max). Only a custodial sentence of three years or more will result in a lifetime ban. But any prohibition can be lifted upon application to the Crown Court.
“is there an age beyond which gun ownership isn’t allowed?”
No. But there is a minimum age of 14 for a firearms certificate. You may/should be surprised that there is NO minimum age for a shotgun certificate. Hence the “KiIller Wales”, whose ‘therapy’ – following their Mother’s death – was to go on a killing spree in the Highlands.