Derbyshire ‘drug addict’ jailed for stealing peregrine eggs

RSPB Press Release (16 January 2024)

Derbyshire man caught on camera raiding peregrine falcon nest given custodial prison sentence.

• At Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court on 15 January 2023, Christopher Wheeldon of Darley Dale, Matlock pleaded guilty to intentionally disturbing Peregrine Falcons and taking Peregrine Falcon eggs and was sentenced to 8 weeks in prison for these offences. His total sentence, including additional charges unrelated to this case is 18 weeks.
• Covert footage taken by the RSPB’s Investigations Team helped secure this conviction.
• The Peregrine eggs are believed to have been hatched and then laundered into the illegal falconry trade.

In April 2023, officers from RSPB Investigations installed a surveillance camera to monitor a Peregrine Falcon nest in a limestone quarry near Bolsover, Derbyshire. The falcons were incubating a clutch of eggs when on 23 April 2023 video footage showed a rope being dropped from above, causing the parent bird to abandon the nest. The Peregrines can be heard sounding distress calls as a man abseils down to the nest and steals three eggs from the cliff-ledge nest, before climbing back to the cliff top. Derbyshire Police were alerted, and enquiries soon identified Christopher Wheeldon as the individual involved. Search warrants were executed at two addresses, resulting in the discovery of items of clothing seen in the video at Wheeldon’s address.

Sadly, no eggs or Peregrines were recovered. It is considered likely that the eggs were destined to be laundered by being artificially incubated, and when hatched, the chicks passed off as ‘legal’ captive-reared birds. Unfortunately, once in the system, and following the removal of the Government registration scheme, it is now virtually impossible to trace these wild birds. It is likely these wild Peregrines were stolen to order and are now in the overseas falconry trade, where wild British Peregrine Falcons are regarded as being of genetically superior stock and command high prices.

On Monday 15 January Wheeldon, who pleaded guilty to disturbing these protected birds and taking their eggs, received an eight-week prison sentence for these crimes and a further 10 weeks for unrelated shop-lifting charges.

District Judge Stephen Flint said on sentencing: “Even the birds are not beyond you’re thieving grasp. You may conceive these as just eggs but they are protected. This was a deplorable thing to do.”

Although Peregrine Falcons are specially protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, these magnificent birds of prey have sadly been subjected to a diverse range of persecution over the years. Over the years the RSPB Investigations team has documented many incidents of shot and poisoned Peregrines on land managed for driven grouse shooting in the UK, including Derbyshire.

In other parts of the county, Peregrines face a different sort of persecution, with nests in quarries being targeted for their highly prized chicks and eggs, to be intended for the illegal falconry industry. Previously, in May 2020, RSPB managed to film another Peregrine nest robbery in Derbyshire but unfortunately this did not lead to a conviction in court.

This latest case highlights the ongoing demand for wild Peregrine eggs from the UK to furnish the overseas market. With the laundering of wild Peregrine Falcons fetching tens of thousands of pounds, this crime will continue to be worth the risk to some.

Without the reinstatement of full registration controls for captive bred birds this illegal activity will continue to threaten wild Peregrine populations across the UK.  The RSPB Investigations Team will continue to monitor nests in Derbyshire and the wider area, and as this case shows, hope to secure more convictions in the future.

The RSPB would like to thank Derbyshire Police Rural Crime Team for their thorough investigation and diligent work which has resulted in this successful outcome, the South Peak Raptor Study Group for their continued efforts in monitoring these birds and Tarmac for their assistance throughout.

Thomas Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer: “Peregrine Falcons represent the epitome of being wild and free and it is this very characteristic that makes them such a target for criminals involved in the illegal falconry trade, earning money from the laundering and trading of these birds overseas. The theft of Peregrine eggs and chicks has been a persistent threat to these birds in Derbyshire. This case is a great example of organisations working together to bring those responsible to justice. Without dedicated volunteers and the efforts of Derbyshire Police this would have been just another failed nest. I hope this sends the message that we are watching and will continue our efforts to protect these amazing birds of prey.”

Chris Wilkinson, Derbyshire Police Rural Crime Team: “The nesting sites of these beautiful birds of prey are protected in law for a reason. Peregrines are an endangered species and groups, including the RSPB, have been working hard to ensure they are free from persecution and able thrive in Derbyshire. The efforts made by the RSPB, Derbyshire Police, NWCU and the Animal and Plant Health Agency to secure the conviction and subsequent sentence handed down by the courts, goes to show that we will go above and beyond to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.”

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call the police on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form/

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

This is an interesting case in that the culprit received a custodial sentence for the persecution of birds of prey. As regular blog readers will know, custodial sentences are rare in this area of wildlife crime – there have been a handful, the most notorious in 2014 when a gamekeeper who was caught on camera by the RSPB trapping and killing goshawks on an Aberdeenshire shooting estate in 2012, received a four month custodial sentence (here).

There have been plenty of other convictions for raptor persecution since then, mostly gamekeepers, with many of the cases reaching/passing the custodial threshold but sentences have been consistently and disappointingly weak, typically consisting of paltry fines, community orders and/or suspended sentences.

So what made Wheeldon’s offences so different as to warrant an immediate custodial sentence?

Well, I’d argue that the fact Wheeldon didn’t have an expensive barrister to represent him, unlike many gamekeepers who appear before the courts charged with raptor persecution, was probably a crucial factor. The majority of those given a custodial sentence for raptor persecution offences have been individuals stealing eggs/chicks for the falconry trade or for private egg collections, and who haven’t had top barristers standing up for them in court.

I’d also guess that Wheeldon’s criminal history influenced the magistrate’s decision. Wheeldon, 34, previously of Lime Grove, Matlock but now of Wheatley Gardens, Two Dales, is described on the Derbyshire Live website as a ‘drug-addicted tree surgeon’, and he has a bit of a record.

He reportedly lost his driving licence for ‘driving with excess drugs’ in 2021 (here) and was charged with attempted robbery of a takeaway in Matlock in January 2023 (here – I don’t know the outcome of that case). In addition, during sentencing yesterday, it emerged that Wheeldon was also convicted of five counts of shop lifting, four of which took place during the first week of January this year.

He actually received a longer sentence for the shoplifting offences (10 weeks) than he did for disturbing the peregrine nest (8 weeks) and stealing the peregrine eggs (another 8 weeks, to run concurrently). So whilst a custodial sentence is to be welcomed, it still doesn’t act as a deterrent for others who may be considering committing an offence; and an offence that is supposedly a national police wildlife crime priority, especially when this offence can theoretically attract a custodial sentence of up to six months in England.

A report on wildlife crime in the UK, published in 2021 by the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) recommended improved sentencing guidelines to provide consistency on tackling wildlife crime.

Following the report’s publication, Green peer Natalie Bennett asked the UK government what plans it had to produce sentencing guidelines for raptor persecution (and other wildlife offences). DEFRA Minister Lord Benyon said the report’s recommendations “will be considered by the relevant agencies“.

No plans, then.

Nevertheless, Wheeldon’s prosecution and conviction is a good result – and especially as it was led by Derbyshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team, who previously have been less than impressive on some raptor persecution investigations (e.g. here, here, here). So well done to Derbyshire Police, to the RSPB’s Investigations Team and also to the Crown Prosecution Service.