Two gamekeepers who work on William van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court this morning to face a number of charges of alleged wildlife crime.
Dominic Green, 35, of Cockley Cley Road, Hilborough, Thetford and William Richardson, 22, of Nethergate Street, Hopton, near Diss, had been charged with intentionally taking a Schedule 1 wild bird (a goshawk) at the Hilborough Estate, and the use of pigeons as decoys inside a crow cage trap to take/kill the goshawk. They had also been charged with failing to ensure the welfare of the pigeon decoys.
However, according to a report in the Eastern Daily Press this afternoon (here), all the wildlife crime charges were ‘withdrawn’ against both gamekeepers.
Green pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon (an extendable police-style baton) and his lawyer argued he’d had this in his possession since 2003 when it was lawful to possess it.
District Judge David Wilson recognised that Green was “essentially” of good character and imposed a fine of £1,000, with £400 costs and a £400 victim surcharge.
It hasn’t been reported why the wildlife crime charges were ‘withdrawn’.
This case relates to a police investigation that launched in April 2022 after the anti-bloodsports group, the Hunt Investigation Team, recorded covert footage of a masked man removing a goshawk from a trap that appeared to have been baited with a pigeon decoy which was said to have taken place on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk. The fate of the goshawk is not known, nor, it seems, the identity of the masked man who removed it from the trap and walked away with it.
Previous blogs on this case:
8th May 2022: Van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk at centre of police investigation into alleged raptor persecution (here)
10th May 2022: Illegally-set trap found on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk (here)
11th May 2022: Police confirm bird of prey was caught in illegally-set trap on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk (here)
12th May 2022: Covert footage published showing masked man with trapped goshawk on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate (here)
16th May 2022: Mail on Sunday blames ‘vigilantes’ for police investigation into alleged wildlife crime on van Cutsem’s estate (here)
12th August 2022: GWCT disregards police investigation into alleged wildlife crime on van Cutsem’s Norfolk estate (here)
13 October 2023: Two gamekeepers due in court after police investigation on van Cutsems’ Hilborough Estate in Norfolk (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
Presume it would be difficult to justify keeping his gun licences
Apparently not – the court even mentioned that Dominic Green previously received a caution around firearms. A very troubling picture.
What’s that sound I hear?
Is it that of a fix going in?
Or is there anything else which sounds like that? Curious minds want to know…
Very disappointing, although I suppose if you cannot identify which keeper attended the trap it is difficult to proceed. Is it possible to find out why the charges were withdrawn? I was hoping for big things with this case as a previous case involving the Van Cutsem family at their Yorkshire estate involved an underkeeper being cautioned for pole trapping.
Connections!
This makes me sick! The newspaper is so much up the arse of the estate it is laughable. One hing that can be sure though is that HIT will be watching them very closely!
Looking forward to reading more on the case – currently it has that familiar aroma of good old fashioned British justice about it.
What can we expect when his mate next door is Royalty.
Another very disappointing outcome, what is it these game, and shooting estates have xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.
The cps in this country has become surplus to requirements, with minimal sentencing, and all this suspended sentence nonsense we will never be able to deter people from committing crimes, this is another example of the xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.
It’s time the courts got tough on xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.
At the moment the deterrent is a measly fine, and that’s all, xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.
Why, in 2023 are we still allowing game shooting?, why are grown men and women still shooting at fat slow moving birds which have been fattened up specifically to make them an easy target, and in the name of sport?, where is the sport?, it just cruelty towards game birds, which in 99% of cases are just destroyed after the shoot, its not even for the food, it’s for rich folk to have fun.
I believe that we need a system that deals solely with wildlife crimes, and nothing else, and this system should have one set of rules to follow, if a crime has been committed, they should be able to implement the law, and give out proper punishment, and this punishment should be final, and in ALL cases of wildlife crimes these people should never be allowed to work in that industry ever again, in any position, all firearms licences should be revoked permanently.
And this system should be robust enough to withstand the usual bullying from Lawyers, and rich folk, mp’s, and should be able to inflict sentences on the estates too, not just to restrict activities, but to ban shoots permanently if multiple crimes are recorded on the estates.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx.
Hit them where it hurts most and they might start to follow the rules, and might even be interested in protecting wildlife instead, xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx and almost all shooting estates within this industry have no worries regarding birds of prey crimes, they know its just a mere slap on the wrist, and a pulrty fine, and the people involved are back at work the next day, doing it all over again.
The estates should be punished alongside the criminals, and restrictions should be imposed upon the estate, and for more than one crime suspension should be imposed, and after than a withdrawal of shooting licences should be made permanent, then and only then would these estates start to wake up, and actively look to uphold the law.
As for brood meddling, this is a topic of concern, firstly the person responsible for allowing this to happen should be punished for interfering with birds of prey, and nesting birds, and should be removed from their position, and anyone found to have meddled with birds of prey nests should be punished for the crime.[Ed: Hen harrier brood meddling is a lawful activity, licensed by Natural England]
I recently spoke with wildlife crime police, and firstly I will mention their absolute hatred of the system, they are so heavily restricted in their job it is almost not worth having wildlife police, these guys should have absolute power to investigate, and punish criminals, and should be given full backing, from the government to be able to go above the rich, and above the mp’s , and have the ability to impound weapons used in crimes, along with the power to take down criminal gangs, xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx, these people are bigger criminals than pickpockets on London streets.
The problem is the law, it is so restrictive, and does not have the full backing behind it, too many rich mp’s have an interest in the shooting industry, be that financial, or because they are members of the shooting club, this should have absolutely no bearing on any case as a crime has been committed, and in fact it should have an impact upon their job, as a member of Parliament they should distance themselves from criminal activities, this industry is so corrupt it is definitely a conflict of interest regarding their position in Parliament.
Then we have the government departments set up to protect wildlife, well they are not worth the cost to set up, let alone any benefits as a result of their being established.
Defra, no need to say any more on that subject, a disaster, a waste of public funding. Where defra has a chance to make a real impact full difference, it sits back and let’s the shooting industry run rings around it, xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx, if this is not the truth then perhaps defra should prove me wrong, by firstly stepping up and taking action against these estates for their criminal behaviour, and by actually getting involved in the very thing it was set up to do, look after rural affairs.
I believe very strongly that while we show these wildlife criminals it’s never going to impact their life committing these crimes why would they stop?, I believe that all crimes however small or insignificant they might appear are crimes, and should be treated the same as a major crime, in the case of stolen eggs, might seem pety to some, but the bigger picture is a loss of potentially 2 birds of prey, not to mention the loss of future offspring from those birds going forward, possibly going into hundreds of birds lost, then there is the adult birds who have lost the eggs, what is the impact on these birds, how did it effect them?, were they disturbed? Did that cause the birds ingoing problems, has this made them select a different nesting site nearer to danger, nearer to shooting estates where they will end up being killed just in case they might grab a grouse?, we will never know, but if that did happen, would there be any charges brought against the estate, probably not, because its not happening at the moment, and we have lost over 100 birds in 2 years to the industry, even if they don’t want to tell the truth, its no coincidence, these birds are not disappearing away from Shooting estates, they are all strangely happening on or near grouse moors, or shooting estates, but who am I to put the facts together you ask, well I’m a normal human, with disabilities, and a love for nature, and wildlife, I wish I could see more of it, but I only shoot with my camera, I do not trample on nests, do not kill birds, and do not set traps for birds so I can get pictures, I do not use food, or anything else, just my patience, and luck, I have never see a hen harrier, only ever seen a golden Eagle once from a big distance, and seen a white tailed eagle once disappearing behind a mountain, so for these criminals to just murder these stunning birds to protect their income to me is just abhorrent, there is absolutely no excuse in the current world for such events to take place, I feel the same way about all shooting sports, these are not necessary activities, and are just blood sports, no different to shooting big game in Africa, there is absolutely no reason for this activity to still be happening now.
As for the rich folk who like the idea of being all powerful with their guns, and just shooting stuff for fun, why don’t they take it in turns to be the hunted, having to run across the estate and if they make it to the finish line they get a prize, at least this would have a purpose, to weed out the gun toting maniacs who think its fun to shoot stuff.
At the moment the more birds killed the bigger the prize pot, so estates are releasing far more birds than are needed, more are escaping, and as an invasive species they are disrupting the balance of our native birds and animals, in turn this damag3s our ecosystem, causing more birds of prey to diversify, in turn causing the grouse to become top of the list for prey because the native natural prey has been diminished, it is a knock on effect, they are their own worst enemy, along with the birds of prey’s biggest enemy.
I am sure the land owned an managed by game bird industry could be, ad should be put to better use, if these estate owners can’t use the land for anything else, sell it, or let farmers use it, its quite simple, we have a need for becoming more independent, and making more of our own produce, some of the land used for blood sports would be better used to help grow crops, and serve a purpose instead of being a very big cash cow for the industry, I know it is purely about money, and making as much as possible, but they should have morals, and should abide by the laws of the land, not bribe, and donate their way out of trouble.
Regardless to if they have donated cash to defra, or any other department for protection of wildlife and nature, they should still be punished properly, and should be sanctioned if crimes have been committed.
[Ed: Thanks, James b. Some of your comments have been deleted as they’re libellous]
“The cps in this country has become surplus to requirements, with minimal sentencing, and all this suspended sentence nonsense we will never be able to deter people from committing crimes…”
“It’s time the courts got tough on…”
“At the moment the deterrent is a measly fine, and that’s all…”
You don’t specify which crimes you are talking about, or give examples… but there exists in this country (England and Wales) a process whereby ordinary citizens can officially complain about Unduly Lenient Sentences, and the Attorney General’s Office are obliged to review the sentences applied.
Have you ever used that system? If not, why not?
Wildlife crime is exempted from the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme, so if you are complaining exclusively about wildlife crime sentencing (and possessing an offensive weapon is not a wildlife crime) then you should direct your ire about that exemption to your local MP (perhaps with copies to your local media, for publicity).
Paul Irving is right of course: The Masked man at the trap cannot be identified. However, I dispair: what’s the point of getting these people in court? police investigations go nowhere, wildlife crime not taken into consideration, on and on they go. Yes, it’s connections etc. etc.
I agree the whole system is (and deliberately never was) fit for the purpose of getting convictions. But I wonder in these cases for example, is an attempt made to at least connect the suspect(s) to the trap (albeit not the removal of the goshawk)? To that end did they fingerprint the hasp on the door / or the padlock if there was one, or any metal surfaces in the trap construction? Did they fingerprint the drinker if there was one – often a baked bean tin. What is best practice in evidence gathering and do all police forces have to meet the same standard?
“The Masked man at the trap cannot be identified”
And yet masked criminals are sometimes convicted.
Exactly Keith and James b what more is there to say a lawless country with no real justice system abbhorent.