So, finally, three and a half years on, Inverness prison officer Keith Liddell was sentenced today for possession and trading of wild birds’ eggs.
This is the guy who was caught with 2,307 eggs, including those of a number of threatened and protected species. This is the guy who denied his guilt for three and a half years, resulting in costly legal proceedings against him (paid for by our goodselves, the taxpayers). This is the guy who only pleaded guilty to 13 charges last month, several days into his trial (see here).
This is the guy who today received just a 220-hour community service order for his crimes.
There’s been plenty of media coverage about this story today – RSPB press release (here), BBC news (here) etc etc but perhaps the most amusing is STV News, showing a video of Liddell running away from court trying to hide his face (here).
We’re all probably immune to the shock of these crap sentences now. No deterrent value whatsoever and a strong indication that the judiciary still doesn’t understand the serious and wider implications of wildlife crime. It’s the investigators and prosecutors who should have our sympathy – three and a half years of painstaking work to get this criminal convicted and he walks out of court pretty much a free man except for the few hours he’ll spend drinking tea and having a laugh or whatever it is they have to do on community service.
But Liddell’s pointless sentence isn’t the end of this sorry story. Liddell was one of three UK individuals who were charged with suspicion of trading in wild birds’ eggs, following the examination of thousands of emails that linked them with a network of alleged international traders. The second man, Andrew Seed from County Durham, was convicted of 17 charges relating to illegal smuggling and trade in birds’ eggs, in May 2010. Investigators had found more than 2,000 eggs at his house, including osprey eggs that were believed to have been stolen from a Scottish nest. His punishment was a 9 month jail sentence, suspended for two years (so effectively able to walk out of court a free man). Although his eggs were subject to a confiscation order and he was hit with costs totalling £3,607.03 (see here and here).
And what of the third man? We heard a bit about him during an earlier hearing in the Liddell case – a mansion in West Lothian was raided in 2009 where police reportedly found over 12,000 eggs (see here). According to a BBC article published shortly after the raid, police seized more than 5,000 eggs as well as egg-collecting paraphenalia. The police charged a 57-year old man with alleged wildlife crime offences and reported him to the Procurator Fiscal (see here). We understand that the Crown Office decided not to proceed with the charges against this individual. Why? Who knows, and the chances of us ever being told? Nil.
UPDATE (10 April 2013): Guy Shorrock has posted an interesting insight into this case on the RSPB’s Investigations blog here.
An article in the Scotsman today suggests that the recent death of the shot golden eagle (see 
John Dodd, the multi-millionaire owner of the controversial Glenogil Estate, has ‘quietly sold up’, according to an article in the Sunday Times.
There’s an article today in the Sunday Herald about the RSPB’s controversial choice of venue for next month’s Scottish Birdfair. For the second year running, the RSPB has chosen to hold this event at Hopetoun House, the stately home of Lord Hopetoun whose family also owns the Leadhills (Hopetoun) Estate in South Lanarkshire, a grouse moor that has been at the centre of raptor persecution allegations for years. Sunday Herald article 
This is never-ending.
Claire Baker MSP has been asking some more pertinent parliamentary questions….
Raptor Persecution UK 