Category: 2022 persecution incidents

Illegally-set trap found on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk

Further to the news two days ago that the van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk was under police investigation for alleged raptor persecution (here), more news about this case has emerged.

According to an article in yesterday’s Eastern Daily Press, police officers attended woodland close to the A1065 at Hilborough at 5pm on 29th April 2022.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

A [Norfolk Police] spokesperson said it [the investigation] came after they “received intelligence” that a bird of prey had been caught in a trap baited with a live pigeon, an offence under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.

“While in the wood, officers discovered a trap set with a live pigeon. The pigeon was released by officers and is being looked after by another organisation on behalf of the police,” they added.

“At about 7pm, the officers saw two men in the same wood. The men were stopped and searched, and officers discovered a police-style baton in a vehicle being used by one of the men.

“Four live pigeons, one deceased pigeon and the police-style baton were among the items seized by police. The pigeons are currently being cared for on behalf of the police.”

Well, how interesting. I’m not sure how the EDP article can claim ‘it is understood that police left the estate having found no evidence of wrongdoing‘ when the police found a pigeon-baited trap in the woodland. It’s an offence to bait a trap with live pigeons because this would likely attract certain protected raptor species to the trap (especially goshawks) where they’d be caught and unable to escape. It’s for this reason that trap-users must comply with the General Licence conditions that permit just a few specific species to be used as decoys within a trap.

I’ve got to say, the reporting of this case so far appears to be for the purpose of deflecting all attention away from William van Cutsem and the Hilborough Estate.

The article published a couple of days ago by the Mail on Sunday looked to me like it had been placed by a van Cutsem supporter, perhaps as a damage limitation exercise. It emphasised the estate’s ‘legal methods for vermin control‘ (the use of the word ‘vermin’ was a bit of a giveaway, to be honest!), bigged up the estate’s reported conservation credentials (the late Hugh van Cutsem was well regarded in conservation circles – he died in 2013), and used an unnamed source (‘a friend‘ – typical tabloid tactics) to suggest that the estate’s current occupier, William van Cutsem, suspected he’d been set up by a disgruntled former employee.

Yesterday’s article in the EDP repeats some of this stuff and states that the estate ‘is now regarded as one of the UK’s best game shoots‘, although it doesn’t say who regards it as such or on what criteria this acclaim is based.

Nevertheless, whether you believe any of that stuff or not, the news that the police found an illegally-set trap and that they’d seized five pigeons and a police-style baton from two men in the same woodland suggests to me that there is a lot more to this investigation than the Mail on Sunday and EDP would have us believe.

I look forward to a press statement from Norfolk Police as the investigation progresses.

UPDATE 11th May 2022: Police confirm bird of prey was caught in an illegally-set trap on van Cutsem’s Hilborough Estate in Norfolk (here).

Email correspondence between Chris Loder MP & Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner re: poisoned eagle

After a long delay and several reminder emails, I’ve finally received a response to my Freedom of Information request from the office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC), David Sidwick.

If you recall, in early March I’d asked for copies of all correspondence between the PCC and Chris Loder MP in relation to the (mis)handling of the police investigation into the poisoned white-tailed eagle found dead on a shooting estate in North Dorset in January 2022.

I was interested in finding out whether Chris Loder MP had interfered with / influenced Dorset Police’s decision to pull the plug on the investigation before a search had even taken place, given his outspoken objections to the investigation when it was still active.

You may also recall I’d asked for the same information in another Freedom of Information request to Dorset Police, which they have refused to answer. Their explanation for this refusal had zero credibility so I’ve asked for a formal review of their decision – I’m awaiting a response to that request.

The FoI response to me from the PCC’s office is here:

emails-chris-loder-mp_david-sidwick-pcc-re-sea-eaglesDownload

So there was correspondence between the two ‘good chums‘, as expected, and you can see Chris Loder’s exasperation at not receiving information to which he appeared to feel entitled.

I note with interest David Sidwick’s assurance to Chris Loder that he will receive ” a full briefing” after the investigation has closed. Given that Dorset Police closed the investigation (prematurely) on 29th March, exactly one month ago, I wonder whether that briefing to Chris Loder has now been provided? This was beyond the dates/scope of my original FoI request but it will be covered by Chris Packham’s later FoI request so I look forward to seeing what that briefing says.

Meanwhile, back to the FoI response sent to me from the PCC’s office, above. The eagle-eyed amongst you might have picked up that there appears to be some correspondence ‘missing’ from the bundle I’ve been sent:

That very first email from David Sidwick to Chris Loder (dated 15th February) appears to be a response to correspondence from Loder (Sidwick’s opening words are, ‘As requested…’) but Loder’s ‘request’ has not been provided in full in my FoI bundle. There are parts of Loder’s request incorporated in Sidwick’s reply, but the original, full email from Loder is missing.

In the same email, Sidwick also includes a line that appears to be taken from Loder’s (missing) email:

Presumably from Loder: “Could you also help with the earlier question about the name of the rural crime team? Rural Crime Team / Rural Crime Wildlife & Heritage Team“

Response from Sidwick: “RCT is the form preferred and the long version will be dropped“.

Nowhere in this bundle is there a copy of the “earlier question” from Loder to Sidwick about the rebranding of the Rural Crime Team.

I have written back to the PCC’s office and asked them to check for these missing pieces of correspondence.

Another dead buzzard in Dorset – Police warn public of suspected poisoned baits

Yet another dead buzzard has been found in North Dorset.

Whilst the cause of death has yet to be ascertained (presumably the carcass has been sent for post mortem), yesterday PC Rob Hammond warned the public to keep their dogs on leads to avoid the risk of them coming into contact with potential poisoned baits.

Well done to PC Hammond for putting out this timely warning. Even though poisoning has not yet been confirmed, the potential risk to the public and their dogs is high so he’s done exactly the right thing.

Dorset is fast becoming quite the hotspot for raptor persecution. I’ve been looking through some reports from the last few years and have found the following incidents of raptor persecution recorded in the county:

May 2018: Buzzard found shot dead (here).

May 2018: Suspicious deaths of two barn owls and several more buzzards (here).

March 2020: Disturbance of nesting peregrines (here).

April 2020: Several buzzards were found dead within close proximity to each other in the Ashmore Wood area near Blandford. These birds were sent for testing and enquiries remain ongoing (here).

August 2020: Two buzzards, one dead, were found near the body of a rabbit. An owl and a further two buzzards were also found. Analysis has confirmed Brodifacoum in the buzzard which is likely to have caused the death. The second buzzard and the owl had background residues and the analysis on the rabbit was negative.

September 2020: A dead buzzard was found on a bridleway, it had been shot.

November 2020: A dead red kite and rat were found near a footpath. Analysis has confirmed Bendiocarb in the stomach contents of the red kite and in pots removed from a vehicle and a sachet in a shed, which is likely to be the cause of death. No residues were found in the rat.

February 2021: A buzzard and a red kite were found in a wooded area. Analysis has confirmed Brodifacoum in the liver of the red kite which will have contributed to its death, the levels of Brodifacoum in the buzzard are borderline and uncertain if the exposure contributed to its death. 

March 2021: A multi-agency raid was carried out on a shooting estate in North Dorset. A number of dead birds of prey and several pesticides, including banned substances, were located at the premises. A firearm was also recovered (here).

January 2022: A dead white-tailed eagle was found poisoned on a shooting estate in North Dorset. The post mortem found its liver contained 7 x lethal dose of rodenticide Brodifacoum. Inexplicably, Dorset Police closed the investigation before conducting a search (here).

February 2022: Another white-tailed eagle was suspected to have been poisoned on another shooting estate in North Dorset. This one survived (here).

February 2022: A dead buzzard and a dead red kite are found dead on a shooting estate in North Dorset, suspected poisoned. Toxicology results awaited (here).

April 2022: A dead buzzard found dead in the Ashmore area. Toxicology results awaited.

It’s pretty clear that Dorset has a raptor persecution issue and I understand there are several more investigations that have yet to be reported in the public domain. Given these incidents, and more, it’s astonishing that the local MP, Chris Loder, thinks the police shouldn’t ‘waste resources’ on investigating wildlife crimes.

It’s even more astounding that Dorset Police shut down the poisoned eagle investigation, without conducting a search, and continue to refuse any explanation for their decision and yet still the top brass claim to be taking raptor persecution ‘seriously’, not that anyone believes them anymore.

It’s heartening then to see on-the-ground officers like PC Rob Hammond, trying to do the right thing. I wonder how long it’ll be before he’s told to drop the case and/or stop investigating wildlife crime, as has his colleague, PC Claire Dinsdale?

Dorset Police Chief Constable and the Police & Crime Commissioner on a futile damage limitation exercise

Right, moving away from this morning’s news about the illegally poisoned white-tailed eagle in Sussex, we’re back on the poisoned white-tailed eagle found dead in Dorset (it’s hard to keep up, I know).

This afternoon, Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Sidwick, and Dorset Police Chief Constable Scott Chilton, have both published statements in response to all the media attention brought to their doors by the failure of Dorset Police to fully investigate the circumstances of the poisoned eagle found dead on a shooting estate after it had ingested 7 x the lethal dose of a toxic rodenticide.

Here is what has appeared on the PCC’s website:

I’m sorry to say that I don’t see anything here other than a damage limitation exercise and an attempt to close down the public and media scrutiny to which both the police and the PCC’s office have been subjected (and rightly so, in my opinion).

It’s meaningless to talk about how ‘Dorset police continues to take any and all potential wildlife offences seriously and will act to prevent and detect offences wherever possible‘ when the investigation into the poisoned eagle was ended so abruptly and prematurely.

Why was the multi-agency search of the estate, planned for by Dorset Police’s award-winning wildlife crime officer, Claire Dinsdale, called off at the last minute? There still hasn’t been an explanation for that and neither of these two statements comes close to addressing it.

And why was that award-winning wildlife crime officer, Claire Dinsdale, removed from her post as wildlife crime lead?

And why was the word ‘wildlife’ removed from the title of the Rural Crime team if the team is still tackling wildlife crime?

There’s still more to come out in the public domain about this poisoned eagle case. Legal restrictions prevent me from publishing it right now but I’m hopeful that within a few weeks I’ll be able to do so once the wheels of justice have turned a bit further. And once this information is out, the public will be even more angry than they already are about the premature closing of the investigation. And I reckon Dorset Police know that. The PCC might not be aware of it but rest assured, he soon will be.

Meanwhile, this morning I finally received a response to my Freedom of Information request from the Dorset PCC’s office. I’ll be blogging about that very soon.

The office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner: incompetent or something more sinister?

On 4th March I submitted a Freedom of Information request to the office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC), Conservative David Sidwick, in relation to Dorset Police’s investigation into the poisoning of a white-tailed eagle that had been found dead on a shooting estate in January 2022 (see here).

I asked for copies of all correspondence relating to this matter between the PCC and (a) Dorset Police and (b) Chris Loder MP. You’ll recall that Mr Loder was the Conservative MP who took to Twitter to attack Dorset Police’s Rural, Wildlife & Heritage Crime team’s investigation into the poisoned eagle (see here and here).

By law (the Freedom of Information Act), the PCC’s office had to respond within 20 working days (by 1st April 2022) to either (a) provide the information I’d requested, (b) ask for an extension of a further 20 working days to send their response, or (c) refuse my request (and explain the legal grounds for that refusal).

I asked for this information because David Sidwick had previously described Chris Loder MP as his ‘good chum’ in February 2020:

The FoI response from the PCC’s office did not arrive by 1st April. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed it would arrive shortly afterwards.

On 7th April 2022 I wrote to the PCC’s office again, to remind them their FoI response was overdue. I just received an automated response.

On 11th April 2022 I wrote again, and again I received another automated response.

On 13th April 2022 I did receive an actual response from someone in the PPC’s office, apologising for the delay and saying:

“The response is just being pulled together and we will come back to you asap“.

That was two weeks ago and I haven’t heard anything more. It must be a massive file. Or something.

It’s been 53 days (35 working days) since I submitted my original FoI request. I know that there has definitely been communication between the PCC David Sidwick and Chris Loder MP about this issue because Mr Sidwick tweeted about it in February:

In this tweet, David Sidwick is clearly supportive of Dorset Police’s investigation into the poisoned eagle, despite his ‘good chum’ Chris Loder MP going ballistic on Twitter about ‘wasting police resources’.

A few weeks later, the police investigation was prematurely shut down, the Force’s award-winning wildlife crime officer was off on extended sick leave and is reported to have been told if/when she returns she’ll no longer be the wildlife crime lead, and the Force dropped the word ‘wildlife’ from the title of its Rural Crime team with a counter-intuitive explanation that simply doesn’t add up (i.e. “to reflect the broader work we are undertaking“). Surely if you’re increasing the scope of your work you add words to the title, not remove them?

So what went on in those few weeks between a live investigation supported by the PCC, to a complete shut-down of the case?

And why is the office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, unlawfully delaying providing me with a response to my FoI request?

It could be incompetence. But it’s looking increasingly like something else, especially when Dorset Police refused my FoI request with the most ludicrous fob-off (here).

Today I emailed the PCC’s office, again, and asked them to respond to my FoI without further delay.

Police lead another multi-agency raid after more suspected raptor persecution in Suffolk

Suffolk Police’s Wildlife & Rural Crime Team posted this photograph on Twitter yesterday and said:

‘With support of RSPB Investigations, National Wildlife Crime Unit, Natural England & colleagues, we carried out some searches today. Raptor persecution is something taken seriously in Suffolk and we’ll continue to target this evil criminality. Help us stamp this out for good. #233 1639 1238‘.

That’s a pretty unequivocal statement from the police, isn’t it? And in stark contrast to Dorset Police who don’t appear to be taking raptor persecution seriously at all, having demoted their award-winning wildlife crime officer and closed the investigation into a poisoned white-tailed eagle.

This multi-agency raid in Suffolk is the latest in a surge of multi-agency investigations in response to raptor persecution crimes over the last 15 months, including another raid in Suffolk on 18th January 2021 (here), a raid in January 2021 in Nottinghamshire (here), on 15th March 2021 a raid in Lincolnshire (see here), on 18th March 2021 a raid in Dorset (here), on 26th March 2021 a raid in Devon (see here), on 21st April 2021 a raid in Teesdale (here), on 2nd August 2021 a raid in Shropshire (here), on 12th August 2021 a raid in Herefordshire (here), on 14th September 2021 a raid in Norfolk (here), a raid in Wales in October 2021 (here) a raid in Humberside on 10th December (here) and a raid in North Wales on 8th February 2022 (here).

So far only two investigations have concluded: the Nottinghamshire case where gamekeeper John Orrey was sentenced in January 2022 for battering to death two buzzards he’d caught inside a trap (here), and the Suffolk case (from January 2021) when gamekeeper Shane Leech was convicted of firearms and pesticides offences in November 2021 after the discovery of a poisoned buzzard found close to pheasant-rearing pens in Lakenheath (here).

However, I was at a wildlife crime meeting this week when it was announced that at least 12 raptor persecution cases are pending court, some of them dating back to 2019. That’s indicative of the hard work of these investigators and they deserve full credit for their efforts. It’s been a long, long time since that number of raptor persecution cases have got anywhere near a court room. Well done all.

More questions asked about Dorset Police’s mishandling of the poisoned eagle investigation

If Dorset Police think this issue is going away, they’d better have a re-think.

There’s a good article in The Guardian today, discussing the rebranding of Dorset Police’s Wildlife Crime Team, which now excludes the word ‘wildlife’, and the news that the team’s former, award-winning investigator, Claire Dinsdale, has apparently been told that she will no longer be a wildlife crime team lead when/if she returns from long-term sick leave.

You can read the Guardian article here.

Buzzard shot dead in Fife: Police Scotland appeal for information

Press statement from Police Scotland (21st April 2022)

[Photo by Jerome Murray]

Appeal for information after buzzard is shot in Fife

Officers are appealing for information after a protected bird of prey was found shot in woodland at Mominail, near Ladybank, Fife.

The dead buzzard was found by a member of the public in the morning of Sunday, 9 April, 2022.

Wildlife crime liaison officer, Detective Constable Ben Pacholek, said: “It is sad and disappointed to find this dead bird which would have suffered a lingering and agonising death after being deliberately shot.

Buzzards are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and I am appealing to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the wooded area to get in touch.

We reply on the public to help us tackle wildlife crime and I urge anyone in the local and wider community to come forward if they have any information about who may have been responsible.

If you can assist with our enquiries then please call us on 101, quoting incident number 2689 of Sunday, 9 April, 2022.”

Police Scotland encourages anyone without [sic!] information about wildlife to report it. This can be done via 101 and always call 999 if it is an emergency.

ENDS

UPDATE 27th May 2022: Police Scotland changes its mind about ‘deliberately shot’ buzzard in Fife (here)

Chris Packham submits FoI requests to Dorset Police & the Crime Commissioner about poisoned eagle

Last week I blogged about Dorset Police’s refusal to respond to my Freedom of Information request, where I’d asked for copies of all correspondence between the Police and Dorset Conservative MP Chris Loder in relation to the poisoned eagle found dead on a shooting estate in January (see here).

Dorset Police tried to fob me off with what I consider an explanation that lacked any credibility (see here). I have since appealed that refusal notice and have asked for a review. Dorset Police are obliged to respond within a certain time period and I await their answer.

I also submitted an identical FoI request to the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Conservative David Sidwick. That response is well overdue and I’ll be following that up again this week.

Meanwhile, this week my colleague Chris Packham has also submitted FoIs to both Dorset Police and the PCC. Chris has previously spoken out about Dorset Police’s decision to end their investigation which came shortly after Mr Loder’s Twitter outburst about how the police shouldn’t be using resources to investigate suspected wildlife crime.

Chris’s FoIs are similar to mine but are more targeted, identifying named police officers who are likely to have been involved in the decision-making process about terminating the investigation on the poisoned eagle.

Here is a redacted copy of Chris’s FoI request to Dorset Police:

Here is a redacted copy of Chris’s FoI request to the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Conservative David Sidwick:

UPDATE 25th May 2022: Dorset Police and the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner in breach of Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to Chris Packham’s request for info on poisoned eagle (here)

Tediously predictable response from Minister to Natalie Bennett’s House of Lords question on poisoned eagle

In late March, Life Peer Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (known to many of us as the former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett) posed a written question in the House of Lords about Dorset Police’s unthinkable decision to drop its investigation into the poisoning of the white-tailed eagle that was found dead on a shooting estate in Dorset (see here).

Here is Natalie’s question:

Natalie’s question has now been answered by the Parliamentary-Under-Secretary-of-State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Lord Benyon, who also happens to own a pheasant-shooting estate and a grouse-shooting estate.

Here is Lord Benyon’s response:

It’s predictably tedious and is just the latest version of the same old tosh repeated every time the Government is asked to respond to ongoing raptor persecution incidents, e.g. see this from Environment Minister Rebecca Pow in September 2021, and this from Richard Benyon in February 2022, and this from Rebecca Pow in February 2022.

There’s a running theme in all of these responses that is supposed to persuade us that the Government takes raptor persecution crimes seriously. For example, by the provision of custodial sentences (that have never been applied in England to a raptor-killing criminals and only once in Scotland, in 2014), by DEFRA’s participation in the sham-partnership that is the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) that has been in place since 2011 and has delivered precisely nothing of any use, and by the continued funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) which is supposed to ensure that regional police forces have sufficient support and expertise to undertake investigations into alleged raptor persecution crimes – clearly ineffective when it comes to Dorset Police.

It’s obvious to anyone who cares to look that the raptor-killing criminals continue to stick up two fingers to the law, time after time after time after time, and yet still the Government pretends it’s all under control. Meanwhile, inept police forces like Dorset can make stupendously stupid /suspiciously dodgy-looking decisions and not be held to account.

Or can they? More soon…