There’s been a good deal of media interest and coverage about the recent prosecution, conviction and sentencing of part-time gamekeeper Timothy Hall and his son, Lewis Hall, for their role in the illegal laundering of wild Scottish peregrines which they sold for high prices to buyers in the Middle East (see here and here).
Most media outlets have simply summarised the press releases about Operation Tantallon issued by Police Scotland and the Crown Office, but the Guardian newspaper has published from a different angle, focusing on the work of Scottish Raptor Study Group (SRSG) member George Smith, whose 40 years of dedicated and detailed monitoring of peregrines in south Scotland helped bring the successful prosecution against Timothy and Lewis Hall.
Written by journalist Phoebe Weston, who is developing a reputation for in-depth coverage of raptor persecution crimes – e.g. her earlier three-part podcast on the illegal persecution of hen harriers on grouse moors (‘Killing the Skydancer‘) was excellent, her latest piece on the Hall peregrine case is well worth a read – see here.
It’s good to see George’s significant, long-term fieldwork receiving national attention – like so many other SRSG members, George undertakes this skilled (and licenced) work on an entirely voluntary basis but his hard-won data provide the Scottish Government and its agencies with vital detail about the distribution and abundance of raptors (in George’s case, peregrines) and help to inform long-term conservation policies.
I’m particularly pleased to see George’s work highlighted because he is one of a number of SRSG members who are repeatedly targeted online by a malicious group of individuals, some of them prominent members of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, who deliberately and falsely accuse George and his colleagues of unlawful and negligent practices, all in a desperate bid to discredit the good name of the SRSG.
They base these vicious (and libellous) accusations on what they claim to be their concern for the raptor species being monitored/tagged.
I haven’t seen any of them comment on the successful prosecution of part-time gamekeeper Timothy Hall and his son, Lewis Hall, for their crimes against the same peregrines that George has dedicated 40 years of his life to protect.
Funny, that.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Very good article by Phoebe Weston. I’d like to see a followup on the sentencing and the background of the now notorious Halls…
Call that a punishment 150h & 220h work with no pay..when they made £41.000!!. I bet the rest of the gamekeepers are laughing there head off.. pathetic punishment,
Even the judge was xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx
Well Done, George Smith (and his colleagues.) it can be quite uncomfortable out there in the hills knowing you are surrounded by tyhose who might do you harm given the chance and that experience has told you that they have little respect for the law they use as a weapon to intimidate others by making false complaints.
Agreed George. George Smith and others like him deserve all our thanks. I can well believe they will get a lot of grief and intimidation – perhaps of the low grade but constant variety ie. not enough to go to the Police, as the perpetrators will be careful to avoid that. I can well imagine the unpleasant “drive-bys” that even I get being done more regularly – of masked 20 odd olds on quads with the semi-autos in the mount in front of the handlebars, taking a good look at me – judging why I might be out on “their” moor. I can well imagine the corrosive unsettling effect month after month to raptor monitors, in the context of a known antipathy, and often of known personalities too.
Yet again these crimes leave me speechless and incandescent with rage. What a superb article, and how saddening for all those involved in bringing it to court when the sentences were handed out. There is an enormous amount of concern for peoples’ mental wellbeing these days…. but all conservationists are extremely depressed by Governments’ and Courts’ treatment of all our Flora and Fauna, so the advice to’ walk out in Nature’ really doesn’t work for me…. I know what should really be there!
A really good article from Phoebe Weston that does now need a Part Two to cover the shameful failure of the sentencing. One point that does occur to me – the article mentions that some of the stolen birds are known to be racing in Dubai. Well, there’s something that can be done about that. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the gaffer of Dubai & UAE. King Charles and Prince William proclaim themselves loudly and proudly to be international conservationists. These parties are known to be friends with one another. If our King was to ask Sheikh Mohammed to “have a word” in the right ear – I am certain the birds would be flown back probably the same day, and probably in their own luxury jet. It would at least be a gesture. Or are our Royals conservation credentials not really what they are made out to be?
They’re not
And as for the UAE, don’t get me started on their animal abuse
The government should be strict with people who steal sell or injure or kill raptors.
They have a hard enough life without the killers and Thieves going about.
Stealing eggs must have a decent punishment, £15,000 per egg removed.
£25,000 per raptor injured stolen or killed.
No IFFS, ANDS, or BUTS
Hopefully if the lazy swines in parliament stopped scoffing alcohol at our cost and did something for the world, it would be a better place
People like George, and his team at srsg, need help from the government, while these good people are trying to protect endangered birds, the idiots who kill birds for fun sit back and poke them for their good work, and as normal ignore their own people who are breaking the law to protect their precious game birds.
As always, the criminals are protected by the higher powers, and the people who protect our wildlife are being attacked by the game industry, it is time the laws pertaining to birds of prey were overhauled, and new laws created, we need a dedicated team to protect wildlife, and the protected species from the game industry, and even ban shooting all together, after all there has been nothing but persecution from the game industry for centuries, to enable the rich folks to shoot birds for fun.
It serves no purpose at all, except for keeping the numbers of game birds low, but for the game industry, we would not have a problem with game birds in the first place.
The land occupied by the game industry could be , and should be put to better use, re introduce trees to the land stripped by them for game shooting.
Make the land a haven for wildlife, ie give it back to nature.
I hope the government are able to get on top of the problem, both Scotland, and Yorkshire have a massive problem with birds of prey being persecuted by the game industry, it needs to stop, and the courts need to actually punish these people to the full extent of the law instead of a slap on the wrist like normal, a hefty fine, and jail time (not suspended) will show these people that it is not acceptable to keep killing birds of prey, then and only then will the birds of prey stop being persecuted.
The trouble with these articles is that thick dim witted people like the father and son team believe there us a flourishing market for Falcons to be traded with the arabs.the truth is you can buy captive bred birds all over the world very cheaply nowadays. The press need to stop saying their worth tens of thousands .this gives the wrong impression and only makes scum see pound signs flying round.the truth is just what happened to these two.a yard with birds in poor condition with nobody to sell to.
“dim witted people like the father and son team believe there us a flourishing market for Falcons to be traded with the arabs.the truth is you can buy captive bred birds all over the world very cheaply nowadays… ”
So, you didn’t think it was worth reading the article before posting, then?
“The press need to stop saying their worth tens of thousands”
So, you think the Police and the court got it all wrong, do you?
“a yard with birds in poor condition with nobody to sell to.”
So, why are HMRC investigating tax returns? Or, have they got it all wrong, too?
Stop trying to kid us about there being no Falcon trade in the Middle East.