Following the news earlier today that Scottish gamekeeper and former convicted sex offender Russell Douglas Mason has been sentenced for beating a Goshawk to death with a stick on a Perthshire shooting estate (here), the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has published the following statement:
GAMEKEEPER FINED AFTER BEATING TO DEATH PROTECTED BIRD OF PREY
A gamekeeper who clubbed a protected bird of prey to death has been sentenced
Hidden camera footage showed Russell Mason, 49, striking the goshawk with a cosh six times after it had been caught inside a crow cage trap on Cockrage Moor, Perthshire.
He then put the dead bird in a carrier bag before driving away from the scene at the Milton of Drummie Estate in a Polaris Ranger motor vehicle.
Mason, who worked on the estate, was sentenced at Perth Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to catching and killing the rare raptor on 12 February 2024.
He also admitted a charge of illegally storing ammunition at his home outwith the terms of his firearms licence.
Mason was handed a 200-hour community payback order for killing the goshawk and fined £890 for firearm offences.
Prosecutor Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife 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.
“Russell Mason’s brutal and wholly unnecessary actions resulted in the suffering and death of a rare and magnificent bird of prey.
“COPFS takes raptor persecution 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“.
Staff from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) had set up the static camera on public ground to monitor activity at the trap.
After reviewing the footage on February 14, they saw Mason had entered the trap two days earlier carrying a handheld net.
After catching the goshawk, he is then seen striking it six times with a cudgel or similar instrument.
RSPB officials alerted the Scottish Society for the Protection of Animals (SSPCA) who, in turn, informed the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
An avian vet who subsequently reviewed the footage said the bird would have suffered several fractures and died a painful death.
Officers identified Mason from his gamekeeping duties and his vehicle registration.
DNA from the goshawk was found by officers from the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) on a cudgel found at his home.
During a police search of his home on the estate, officers also recovered a quantity of ammunition from his car and on top of set of bedroom drawers, which were not appropriately stored in accordance with his firearms licence.
ENDS
Raptor Persecution UK 
Mealy mouthed words and a total waste of time. Start producing ACTION and REALLY meaning it. I know what I would do to him. Jail is far too good.
I sincerely hope that he’s lost his job. Even if he has, he’ll probably surface somewhere else ‘assisting’ the estate manager.