In April I blogged about Clive Burgoyne, 38, who had pleaded guilty to placing four poisoned baits on the Guynd Estate in Fife in February 2023, which he did in retaliation to try and frame the estate for raptor persecution after the landowner had revoked permission for Burgoyne to shoot on the estate (see here).
Sentencing was deferred until 5 June for reports. Appearing at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday, Burgoyne was ordered to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
That’s a pitiful sentence and won’t act as any sort of deterrent to anyone else thinking of placing poisoned baits in the countryside.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has published the following statement following sentencing:
MAN WHO COVERED PHEASANT CARCASSES IN RAT POISON OVER FEUD WITH LANDOWNER SENTENCED
A man who coated pheasant carcasses in rat poison to bait and injure other legally protected wildlife has been ordered to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work.
Clive Burgoyne, 38, of Forfar, carried out the crime as part of an ongoing feud with a local landowner over shooting rights.
He hoped that his actions would cause reputational damage to the landowner’s country estate.
Burgoyne was given the Community Payback Order at Forfar Sheriff Court after he admitted a breach of wildlife legislation between January and February 2023.
Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said:
“It is highly important to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife that forms part of it. As such, wild birds are given strict protection by our law.
“Clive Burgoyne’s reckless actions put various wildlife, particularly birds of prey, at risk of injury and death.
“COPFS takes offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act seriously and will prosecute individuals where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and where it is in the public interest to do so.
“The result in this case is a testament to the collaborative working between COPFS, Police Scotland, and Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), who in this case were able to provide vital forensic evidence.”
Prosecutors told how witnesses saw Burgoyne in the front passenger seat of a car travelling towards, and later away, from the Guynd estate near Arbroath on the morning of February 3, 2023.
A short time later, an estate worker discovered a dead pheasant on a footpath within the estate.
The breast had been removed and the bird was covered in a quantity of grain and seed which was then coated in a bright blue liquid.
A further search of the area revealed three more dead pheasants nearby which had been similarly cut open and treated.
Analysis carried out by officials at the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture confirmed the blue grain was an anticoagulant rodenticide formulation containing the active ingredient difenacoum.
They believed the appearance of the pheasant carcases suggested they had been prepared and set out with the intention of causing harm to birds.
Difenacoum is highly toxic to birds and if consumed causes haemorrhaging. A single feed from a baited carcass would prove fatal to a raptor.
The court heard that the dead pheasants had clearly been left out in the open to attract non-target species such as birds of prey.
After being arrested, a sample of Burgoyne’s DNA was found on all four of the dead birds.
ENDS
It’s worth repeating what I wrote after Burgoyne had pleaded guilty in April.
The irony of this case won’t be lost on many of us. Many within the game-shooting industry have long made unsubstantiated allegations that conservationists and animal rights activists have ‘planted evidence’ of poisoned baits in order to frame estates for alleged raptor persecution but as far as I’m aware, none of these claims have ever been proven.
Now that a ‘framing’ case has been proven, it turns out it was a spurned shooter wot dun it, not a conservationist or an animal rights activist. You couldn’t make it up!
Raptor Persecution UK 
odd that all this evidence can be found when the suspect is not involved with the shooting estates????
All that time and effort and he gets a slap on the wrist….so much for COPFS taking the Wildlife and Countryside Act seriously. The perp’s sentence is hardly punishment and neither is it likely to prevent him doing something similar in the future.
Hi Greyandblue,
The Crown Office isn’t at fault here – it took the decision to prosecute Burgoyne. Sentencing lies with the Sheriff. There are now quite severe penalties available for poisoning offences in Scotland – the reasoning for the pitiful sentence in this case hasn’t been publicised.
If the baits were placed in order to frame the estate then Burgoyne is also guilty of an attempt to pervert the course of justice which is a serious offence in its own right. The fact that he escaped a custodial sentence may be linked to the fact that the prisons are currently full beyond their nominal capacity and many convicts released early as a result. Presumably the courts are being encouraged to consider alternatives to custody. That still leaves the question of why a substantial fine was not imposed.
Minor detail, but as far as I can establish, Guynd estate is about 5 miles west of Arbroath in Angus, rather than Fife.
Another joke of a sentance, I’d say the prosecution team are wondering why they bothered!!