More detail has emerged from the ongoing trial of two Scottish gamekeepers, accused of offences relating to the alleged shooting and killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park in February 2025, alleged armed trespass, and alleged firearms offences.
Head gamekeeper Graeme Rankin, 40, and assistant gamekeeper Steven Hague, 43, both of Glenbuchat Estate, have both denied the charges.
The trial began at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in April 2026 and ran for four days (here), before it resumed again in June for several days (here). The case was then further adjourned until July, after the defence KCs lodged a motion calling for the dismissal of all charges for alleged procedural irregularities.
The trial will continue again next week. In the meantime, following on from a write-up from the trial in April, here’s a write-up from the June court proceedings, written by journalist Jamie Ross of the Press and Journal and published on 16 June 2026:
MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING RED KITE KEPT SHOTGUNS IN INSECURE CONDITIONS, COURT TOLD
A man accused of killing a red kite in the Cairngorms kept the keys to his shotguns in a broken safe and behind a table leg, a court has been told.
On Monday, Aberdeen Sheriff Court continued to hear evidence in the trial against Steven Hague, 43, and Graeme Rankin, 40, who each stand accused of shooting and killing a protected bird species on land in Knockie Wood.
The Glenbuchat Estate employees are also facing a charge of shooting a second red kite, while Hague is further charged with breaching the conditions of a firearms certificate and ammunition storage rules.
And yesterday, Sheriff Peter Hammond heard from a firearms officer who attended Hague’s cottage home and found that any combination of numbers could be entered into a safe for it to give up the key to one of his shotguns.
Another gun locker was accessed with a key the gamekeeper hung on a hook behind a table leg, just yards away in the same room where the weapons were kept.
Constable Tomas Spracklen told the court that he attended Hague’s Strathdon home on May 1 2025 alongside other officers who cautioned and arrested him in connection with the animal’s death.
The trial had previously been told that the red kite was discovered by a member of the public in the Glenbuchat area on February 26 last year before staff from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds got involved.
Experts concluded that the animal had been shot and the police were contacted.
Constable Spracklen, a firearms licensing officer, said he attended Hague’s property to carry out a “suitability review” for firearms certificates as colleagues carried out a search warrant.
He walked the court through the home, noting that the gun room had two cabinets where Hague kept his weapons.
On a previous visit to renew his certificates, Hague had provided the officers with a code to a safe, which was meant to securely store the key to his firearms.
“They need to be safely secured at all times,” Constable Spracklen explained.
“We asked him where his keys for the cabinets were kept. On our previous renewal, he indicated they were within a utility cupboard. I asked Mr Hague if that was still the same situation, if the code was the same as we had previously been given.
“Mr Hague advised that the actual safe for storing the keys didn’t work properly. We attended at the utility closet, where it was, and, as Mr Hague stated, I was just able to take the keys without entering the code.”
Hague would also tell the officer that the key to the second cabinet was on a hook on a table leg opposite the locker.
As part of keeping firearms, Hague is required to ensure that both weapons and ammunition are stored securely and are not accessible.
Asked for his opinion on whether what he found at Hague’s home meant he was in breach of that rule, Constable Spracklen said: “In my opinion, it did breach that condition. Anybody that was within that house could gain access to the keys and therefore gain access to the firearm cabinets.”
Fellow officers, he added, would allegedly go on to find an unsecured pouch of ammunition within the gun room.
Lawyer Shelagh McCall KC, representing Hague, queried the officer about her client’s property.
She asked: “Does it sit by itself, or is it adjoined to any other properties?”
“It sits by itself,” the constable replied.
She added: “In terms of the nearest neighbour, what do you reckon?”
“Well over a kilometre,” Constable Spracklen said, agreeing that the cottage was in “the back of beyond” and there was no one else living in the home other than Hague and his wife.
Joanna Murray, a forensic scientist at the Scottish Crime Campus, also gave evidence on Monday.
Shown the shotguns seized by police, she said it was her opinion that there were “similarities” between a Beretta A400 Lite — a left-handed weapon — and the weapon seen in trail camera footage from Knockie Wood.
The clips had previously been played to the court, which allegedly showed two men appearing to fire a shotgun before walking off screen and later returning with a bird in hand.
“That noise that occurred could have been caused by a discharge of a gun,” she told fiscal depute Karon Rollo.
“I am unable to determine what make and model the shotguns are from those videos.”
Queried on how rare a left-handed shotgun is, Mrs Murray added: “I do know, roughly, they make up 5% of the buying and selling market.”
Mrs Murray also concluded that, upon receiving a vet report on the deceased red kite, it was her opinion that its death was “consistent” with a shotgun pellet wound.
“It is my opinion,” she told the court. “Any of the shotguns could have discharged. Or any other shotgun”.
The quality of the video evidence again came under scrutiny during the trial.
At its last hearing, special constable Michael Flacherty said he had been able to identify Rankin, whose address was given as a croft on the Glenbuchat Estate, from the trail cam footage which he saw in better resolution.
“I cannot identify Mr Rankin from this resolution,” he said of the video when it was played back to him at court.
“In the original footage I viewed, I could identify Mr Rankin.”
Mrs Murray had similar issues when she attempted to point to features of the weapons she had referenced in her report as she struggled to find them when the videos were played back in the courtroom.
A video prepared by the defence, however, had no such problems.
Asked to view a piece of film which Ms McCall said showed a man shooting a shotgun 35 metres away from a camera to provide a comparison of the alleged shooting witnessed in the Crown’s footage, Mrs Murray said: “It’s noticeably louder.
“The pick-up on it seemed quite loud compared to the pick-up on the [trail cam].
“If I was to do a like-for-like comparison, I would like to see that testing done in the same area as well.”
The defence’s footage also showed a muzzle flash, which the trail camera does not appear to pick up.
Mrs Murray said “one explanation” for that was a tree causing a physical obstruction.
The red kite is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, making it illegal for them to be killed.
It is believed red kites scare grouse, making it harder for them to be driven towards shooting parties.
The trial was originally due to be heard last December, but the presiding Sheriff Robert Vaughan recused himself because he is an RSPB subscriber.
The trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court continues.
ENDS
The trial will resume at Aberdeen Sheriff Court next week.
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