In February this year, part-time gamekeeper Timothy Hall, 48, and his son Lewis Hall, 23, were sentenced after they’d pleaded guilty to the illegal laundering of wild peregrines that had been stolen from sites across southern Scotland and were sold on to falconers in the Middle East (see here).
Young peregrines at a nest site in Scotland. Photo (taken under licence) by Ruth Tingay
Not guilty pleas were accepted by the court in December 2023 from wife and mother Suzanne Hall, a serving officer with Police Scotland, but she had a reserved fraud charge against her and was at the time reportedly suspended from Police Scotland on full pay (see here). I don’t know whether that situation has changed.
Despite their offences passing the threshold for a custodial sentence, Timothy Hall was ordered to complete 220 hours of unpaid work and Lewis Hall was ordered to complete 150 hours. These sentences were considered to be staggeringly inadequate given the extent of the Halls’ offending (see here).
However, the Crown Office reported that Lewis Hall would also be subject to action under the Proceeds of Crime Act, where profits from criminal activity can be confiscated.
Last week a hearing took place at Jedburgh Sheriff Court where it was revealed the Crown is seeking to recover £164,028.80 from Lewis Hall.
Hall’s defence lawyer, Liam Alexander, requested a further hearing to allow his client to pass on documentation to a forensic accountant to support Hall’s defence.
Sheriff Peter Anderson allowed the continuation but said as there had already been several of these, he set a proof hearing date of 4th September 2024, where all the available evidence will be heard and the sheriff will decide the outcome.
UPDATE 10 October 2024: Scottish court orders convicted peregrine launderer Lewis Hall to pay back thousands under Proceeds of Crime Act (here)
Part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, which requires that the shooting of all red grouse will require a licence, is set to be in place for the opening of the grouse-shooting season on the Inglorious 12th August 2024.
For new readers, this Act was introduced as the Scottish Government’s response to the continued widespread illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors. It will work on the basis that all red grouse shooting must now be licensed in Scotland and if, on the civil burden of proof (i.e. the balance of probability) sufficient evidence is found that the licence has been breached (including evidence of illegal raptor persecution), the licence can be withdrawn as a sanction, preventing the shooting of red grouse on a particular estate for a given period.
The Act achieved royal assent on 30th April 2024 (see here) and we’ve been waiting for a formal commencement date (i.e. when the Act becomes legally enforceable).
The legislation required for commencement has now been published and confirms the widely anticipated expectation that the grouse shooting licence would be ready for the start of this year’s season (complete with the associated Grouse Moor Code of Practice) and that the Muirburn licence won’t be ready until at least next year.
The commencement legislation in the form of a statutory instrument can be read here (and is reproduced below). It’s a necessarily turgid piece of technical legalese but the most important information is the commencement date, and that all looks on track.
Grouse moor owners will shortly be applying to NatureScot for their 16AA licences, which ties them to comply with the associated and soon-to-be-completed Grouse Moor Code of Practice. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes for an estate to breach the terms of its licence and how any subsequent enforcement and sanction is handled.
Here’s the statutory instrument announcing the commencement dates:
Elena is the Scottish Parliament’s Hen Harrier Species Champion, an initiative set up by Scottish Environment LINK to encourage MSPs to champion threatened and iconic species and habitats.
She was lucky enough to see a food pass between the breeding adults during her visit.
Strangely, the chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association, Alex Hogg, recently told a parliamentary committee that the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve was a “species desert” and “there is nothing there at all” [now that it’s no longer being managed as a driven grouse moor].
I’ll return to Hogg’s parliamentary evidence session in a separate blog because it was quite something and it even prompted the RSPB to write to the committee to correct his false claims.
Press release from Rewilding Britain (19 June 2024):
412% INCREASE IN JOBS AT SCOTLAND REWILDING SITES, RESEARCH SHOWS
First rewilding job creation statistics for Scotland come as Rewilding Nation calls grow
Rewilding has boosted job numbers at sites across Scotland by more than 400% while tackling the nature and climate emergencies, new research by Rewilding Britain shows.
An analysis of 13 major rewilding projects covering almost 60,000 hectares between them has revealed a 412% increase in jobs since rewilding began. The varied sample includes sites owned or managed by charities, communities, private landowners, and public bodies.
The first findings of their kind for Scotland come as calls grow for the Scottish Government to declare Scotland the world’s first Rewilding Nation and commit to nature recovery across 30% of land and sea.
“These remarkable job creation figures show how rewilding can turbocharge social and economic benefits for people, while offering hope for reversing biodiversity loss and tackling climate breakdown,” said Kevin Cumming, Rewilding Britain’s Rewilding Director and Deputy Convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance.
“This is yet another powerful illustration of why the Scottish Government should declare Scotland a Rewilding Nation. The choice and the opportunity for the country is huge – for jobs and local economies, and for better health, food production, re-peopling, and access to fresh water and clean air.”
Full-time equivalent jobs across the rewilding sites have increased five-fold from 24 before rewilding began to 123 now. The variety of jobs has boomed too, and includes nature-based hospitality and tourism, estate management, ecology, environmental monitoring, rewilding interventions, recreation, and education.
Benefits for people’s health and wellbeing, and opportunities for gaining valuable skills and experience, have also surged thanks to combined volunteer numbers at the sites increasing from zero to 435.
Tarras Valley Nature Reserve at Langholm, a former grouse moor now owned by the local community and the focus of a large-scale rewilding project. Photo by Ruth Tingay
The sites began rewilding at different times, and are all over 100 hectares in size. Together they cover a total of 59,496 hectares, of which 43,233 hectares are rewilding. They are all members of the Rewilding Britain-managed Rewilding Network, which brings together and supports projects across Britain.
The largest recorded rise in jobs is at Trees for Life’s 4,000-hectare Dundreggan estate near Loch Ness. Since the rewilding charity’s purchase of the former deer stalking estate in 2008, jobs have soared from one to 36, while volunteer numbers have risen from zero to 100.
At Dundreggan, Trees for Life is restoring the Caledonian forest and its wildlife. Last year, the charity opened the world’s first Rewilding Centre on the estate in the Highlands, to showcase how rewilding can give people inspiring experiences, create jobs and benefit rural communities.
At the community-owned Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in Dumfries and Galloway, jobs have already risen from one to six. The 4,250-hectare nature restoration project on Langholm Moor was created after the town of Langholm raised £6m to buy the former grouse moor between 2020-2022.
The pioneering buyout led to the creation of the vast new reserve to support community regeneration, address climate breakdown, and restore nature. Emerging opportunities include conservation grazing, regenerative farming, restoration of peatlands and native woodlands, and eco-tourism.
Rewilding Britain will continue to add new job creation data from a growing number of rewilding sites as it becomes available.
Despite growing praise for its rewilding progress, Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. Intensive agriculture and climate breakdown are having the biggest impacts on habitats and wildlife, with other threats including non-native forestry, pollution, and introduced species, research shows.
The Scottish Rewilding Alliance’s Rewilding Nation Charter, calling on the Scottish Government to declare Scotland a rewilding nation, was launched this spring and has already been signed by thousands of people.
Rewilding 30% of Scotland can be achieved by restoring habitats including peatlands, native woodlands, wetlands, rivers and seas, with no loss of productive farmland, says the Alliance.
Press release from REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform in Scotland, ahead of today’s debate on the Agriculture Bill:
AGRICULTURE BILL AMENDMENTS COULD STOP BIG FARMING PAYOUTS FOR GROUSE SHOOTING ESTATES
REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform, has welcomed amendments to the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill that could end generous public funding for grouse shooting estates.
The Stage 3 bill is due to be debated by the Scottish Parliament this afternoon (Tuesday 18 June).
The amendments (#37, #38 and #39) were submitted by Scottish Greens MSP Arianne Burgess. They seek to address the issue of shooting estates being indirectly supported by farm subsidies, with some estates receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money each year.
The amendments would allow ministers to:
#37: rule out specific land uses from getting agricultural subsidies in the future;
#38: end public funding for estates where the primary activity on the land is driven grouse shooting;
#39: ensure that wildlife criminals and irresponsible owners cannot benefit from public funding.
Driven grouse moor landscape in the Cairngorms National Park. Photo by Ruth Tingay
Eliza Chiswell, REVIVE Campaigner, said:
“REVIVE welcomes Ariane Burgess MSP’s amendments to the Agriculture Bill that would potentially stop grouse shooting estates from receiving public money.
“At its launch in 2018, REVIVE expressed shock that shooting estates could be receiving subsidies and it continues to be very concerned that large sums of public money is indirectly supporting, amongst other things, the killing of hundreds of thousands of foxes, stoats, weasels and crows so that more hundreds of thousands of grouse can be shot for entertainment.
“It is deeply worrying, for example, that an estate like Invermark, which is “principally a sporting estate” [see here] in 2023 received public money to the tune of £213,545 [see here].
“REVIVE has asked its supporters to tell all MSPs that these amendments have strong public support because they ensure that valuable public money supports food production rather than shooting. We hope the amendments receive strong cross-party support and prove to be successful.”
ENDS
The Scottish Greens have also issued a press statement ahead of today’s debate:
The Scottish Government must curb public subsidies for shooting estates and instead use it to support small farmers and the transition to greener agriculture, say the Scottish Greens.
The call comes ahead of the Scottish Parliament voting on the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill, which will have its final vote this week.
The Scottish Greens rural affairs spokesperson, Ariane Burgess MSP, will be moving amendments that would end subsidies for land that is dominated by grouse moors and boost support for small farmers.
Shooting estates are being indirectly supported by farm subsidies, with one example cited by the REVIVE coalition as having received over £200,000 a year. This allows them to continue the damaging practices of widespread burning of peatland vegetation and the unnecessary killing of our wildlife.
Ms Burgess, said: “It’s grossly unfair that enormous shooting estates are benefiting from subsidies paid for by the taxpayer.
“This is public money that should be invested in supporting farmers and rural communities to transition to net-zero, but instead it’s being pocketed by giant landowners and is effectively subsidising the management of Scotland’s uplands for bloodsports.
“My amendments would prohibit subsidies for driven grouse moors, and ensure that Scottish Ministers cannot hand out public money to wildlife criminals. I hope that all MSPs who are concerned about animal welfare will support these amendments.
“The last 14 years have been painful for a lot of people. The last thing we should be doing in a cost of living crisis is handing out subsidies to wealthy landowners for organised cruelty.”
Ms Burgess will also be moving amendments that would support farmers to reduce the environmental impacts of the agriculture industry and assist small to medium scale farmers, crofters and growers to purchase land for food production.
Ms Burgess added: “Small scale farmers play an invaluable role in our food production and in their communities, but, with the current pressures, many are finding it harder to run a sustainable business.
“Many of them are young and new entrants, and I hope that this bill will provide them with extra support to allow them to purchase and enhance the land around them.”
ENDS
The Stage 3 debate on the Agriculture Bill is expected to start around 3pm in the main chamber and can be watched live on Scottish Parliament TV here.
Derbyshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team has today issued the following appeal for information:
‘We are currently looking into reports of a recent Peregrine Falcon nest disturbance at Belper Mill and would like to advertise that a live investigation is currently being completed with partner agencies to establish the circumstances of how this happened. We would also like to hear from anyone who may have information. Please quote occurrence number 24*283748 when doing so‘.
Photo provided by Derbyshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Team
This isn’t the first time that peregrines at Belper Mill have been at the receiving end of criminal activity. In March 2015 the adult breeding male was found shot (here) and another breeding male was found shot in March 2020 (here).
A local resident has informed me that peregrines have been breeding at Belper Mill East since at least 2011 and it’s estimated that almost 40 fledglings have been produced at this site. The peregrines’ breeding attempt has failed this year.
Comments on social media suggest this latest incident is believed to relate to the alleged disturbance of the breeding pair by contractors carrying out groundwork nearby.
In an unprecedented display of cooperation and union, over 150 organisations will come together in London on Saturday 22 June 2024 under the banner ‘Restore Nature Now’, calling on cross-party politicians to take action for wildlife, nature and climate.
This will be a legal, peaceful and family-friendly rally, starting with a 1.6 mile march from Park Lane at 12 noon, culminating with a rally at Parliament Square at 2.15pm where there’ll be speakers, entertainers and music until closing at 4.30pm.
Thousands of supporters are expected to take part, celebrating nature but calling for urgent political action to address the nature and climate emergencies. All the ‘big’ organisations will be there, as well as many ‘smaller’ ones (see here for list of organisations taking part).
This is a timely opportunity to show prospective politicians from ALL parties that these issues matter to many of us who’ll be heading to the polling stations on 4th July.
For further information about the march and rally, including details of coach transport from across the UK, please visit the Restore Nature Now campaign website here.
Retired Edradynate Estate gamekeeper David Campbell has been refused bail as he awaits trial for allegedly murdering his former colleague, retired groundsman Brian Low.
Both the accused and victim were formerly employed on Edradynate Estate. Photo by Ruth Tingay
Mr Low, 65, was found dead with shotgun injuries to his neck and chest on Leafy Lane, Pitilie, near Aberfeldy in Perthshire where he’d been walking his dog on the morning of 17 February 2024.
Prosecutors claim Campbell killed former Edradynate Estate worker Mr Low, having ‘previouslyshown ill-will and malice towards him‘.
In addition to being charged with murder, Campbell, 75, of Crieff Road, Aberfeldy, was also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice between 17 February and 24 May 2024 by hiding the alleged murder weapon.
Campbell has so far made two court appearances (here and here) but has not yet entered a plea.
At his second court appearance on Tuesday 4 June 2024 where Campbell’s case was fully committed for trial, Sheriff Clair McLachlan granted Campbell bail. However, the Crown Office immediately opposed this decision and Campbell was returned to custody until the appeal against bail was heard on Friday morning:
Court listing for bail appeal, 7 June 2024
During a virtual hearing yesterday, Sheriff Gregor Murray upheld the Crown’s appeal and Campbell will now remain in custody.
A date for his next court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
As this case is live, comments are turned off until criminal proceedings conclude.
UPDATE 21 March 2025: Murder trial date set for Edradynate Estate ex-gamekeeper David Campbell, accused of shooting former colleague Brian Low in Aberfeldy (here)
The Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, which received royal assent on 30th April 2024 (here), is the long-awaited legislation that introduces a licensing scheme for red grouse shooting in Scotland.
It was introduced as the Scottish Government’s response to the continued widespread illegal killing of birds of prey on grouse moors. It will work on the basis that all red grouse shooting must now be licensed in Scotland and if, on the civil burden of proof (i.e. the balance of probability) sufficient evidence is found that the licence has been breached (including evidence of illegal raptor persecution), the licence can be withdrawn as a sanction, preventing the shooting of red grouse on a particular estate for a given period.
This is a significant improvement on the previous situation, where grouse-shooting was mostly unregulated and the evidence required to secure a conviction had to meet the higher threshold of the criminal burden of proof (i.e. beyond reasonable doubt), which was near enough impossible to achieve given the remoteness of the crime locations and the lack of witnesses. Even when a gamekeeper was successfully convicted, the shooting estate rarely suffered any consequences and red grouse shooting could continue as before.
Grouse moors like these at Leadhills (known locally as Dead Hills) in south Scotland will now be subject to licensing rules. Photo by Ruth Tingay
As part of the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Act, two new Codes of Practice are being developed to support the new law – a code of practice for grouse moor management and a code of practice for muirburn. If an estate breaches the terms of these new codes, its licence to shoot red grouse can be removed.
Following an update I wrote last month about the development of these two new codes (see here), there has been further progress on the grouse moor management code (referred to as the Grouse Code).
It is still in draft format but is said by officials to be ‘approaching a final version’. It’s anticipated that the Grouse Code will be in place for the start of the grouse shooting season on the Inglorious 12th August whereas the Code of Practice for Muirburn is not expected to be finalised until early 2025.
The latest draft version of the Grouse Code can be read/downloaded here:
Scotland’s statutory nature conservation agency, NatureScot, has finally started its species licensing review.
The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2021-2022 included a commitment to, ‘Review the wider species licensing system with a view to ensuring that the law is being applied correctly and that lethal control is only licensed where the conditions required for such a licence are demonstrably being met. The review will also assess the potential to apply the principle of full cost recovery to species licensing and the introduction of a public register of licenses to improve transparency‘.
This was also included in the shared policy agreement between the Scottish Greens and the SNP in 2021.
NatureScot issues approx 90 different types of licences each year to cover all sort of activities that otherwise would be illegal, e.g. Disturbance licences to Raptor Study Group members whose nest monitoring activities would otherwise disturb Schedule 1 raptor species, individual and general licences to kill various wild birds to prevent damage to livestock and crops and to protect public health and safety, licences to use certain traps to kill wild mammals, licences to kill mountain hares to prevent damage to trees, licences to permit the hunting of mammals with more than two dogs, and of course the imminent licences that will be required for grouse moor management under the new Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.
NatureScot has just published its Terms of Reference (see below) for its Species Licensing Review and there are three main objectives:
Ensure that the law is being applied correctly and that lethal control is only licensed where the conditions required for such a licence are demonstrably being met;
Assess the potential to apply the principle of full cost recovery to species licensing;
Assess the potential to introduce a public register of licenses to improve transparency, bearing in mind data protection and safety of licence holders.
Objective #1 is obviously important and follows on from significant reviews of the General Licences in England, Wales and Northern Ireland after legal challenges from Wild Justice.
Objective #2 became a prominent topic of discussion during the debates on the Wildlife Management & Muirburn Bill – it was widely argued by conservationists that grouse moor owners should pay a fee for their licences, not only to cover the admin costs of issuing the licences but especially to cover subsequent compliance monitoring, which should not come at a cost to the public purse.
Objective #3 is interesting – a searchable public register of licences would be useful, especially if licence holders are required to provide annual licence returns (e.g. how many red grouse were lawfully shot in a particular area in a given season?).
The anticipated timetable for the review is provided in the Terms of Reference and it’s suggested that a report will be ready for external review in October 2024.
The Terms of Reference can be read/downloaded here:
Raptor Persecution UK 