Category: Persecution Incidents in England

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…

Unconvincing statement from Dorset Police on closure of investigation into poisoned eagle

A journalist from one of the nationals contacted me to ask my opinion on a statement he’d been sent by Dorset Police about the premature closure of the investigation into the poisoned white-tailed eagle found dead on a shooting estate in North Dorset in January (see here).

You may recall that Dorset Police published a short public statement on 29th March 2022:

The latest police statement sent to the journalist reads as follows:

Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya, of Dorset Police, said: “Dorset Police has responded robustly to allegations that a White-tailed Sea Eagle had been deliberately poisoned and killed by unknown persons. As a result of the sea eagle being found dead on land in the North Dorset area, our team has carried out a full and proportionate investigation under Section 1 of the Wildlife Countryside Act 1981 in conjunction with Natural England, National Wildlife Crime Unit, the RSPB and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation to identify any offences and perpetrators who may be responsible. 

“As you can imagine detecting the deliberate poisoning of a bird of prey is extremely difficult without local intelligence and information to support the investigation. GPS data provided information that over an 11-day period the White-tailed Sea Eagle spent time across a multitude of locations in the North Dorset area. Despite working with experts, we have been unable to confirm deliberate intent to kill this beautiful bird or identify potential offenders. A detailed examination and tests have been carried out on the bird, which were inconclusive, and it has therefore not been possible to confirm that any criminal offence has been committed. While high levels of brodifacoum were detected, it has not been possible to establish whether this was as a result of a deliberate act or due to secondary rodenticide poisoning. We would still encourage anyone with new information to come forward to support enquiries.

“The Force is committed to keeping everyone in our county safe, including our wildlife, which brings so much to our beautiful countryside and our communities. As part of the police uplift programme and working together with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner we have reviewed our Rural Crime Strategy for the county and allocated increased numbers of officers to the Rural Crime Team to tackle the issues that matter. This includes all aspects of rural, wildlife and heritage-related crime. We will continue to work closely with many different partner agencies in relation to these issues. As always, should any new information be received in relation to this investigation, this will be considered.

“We want to make it clear that we take any and all potential wildlife offences seriously and will act to prevent and detect offences wherever possible.”

As you can see, this statement provides a bit more detail than the first, but nevertheless, it’s still full of holes.

I don’t know how they can claim to have ‘carried out a full and proportionate investigation‘ when the planned multi-agency search of the estate where the poisoned eagle had been found dead was pulled shortly after Dorset MP Chris Loder had tweeted his lack of support for the investigation.

Dorset Police say that ‘detecting the deliberate poisoning of a bird of prey is extremely difficult without local intelligence and information‘. Yes, it is difficult but not impossible, and in this case Dorset Police have plenty of local intelligence and information, not least from on-going investigations into alleged raptor poisoning in the same area over the last few years.

Dorset Police say the poisoned eagle’s satellite tag data showed that in the 11 days prior to its death, the eagle had ‘spent time across a multitude of locations in the North Dorset area‘. What the tag data actually showed was that the eagle had visited just 2-3 locations.

Dorset Police say, ‘We have been unable to confirm deliberate intent to kill this beautiful bird or identify potential offenders‘. The high-level of Brodifacoum (x 7 the lethal dose!) is indicative of an illegal act, whether it was mis-used or targeted. And no, if you don’t conduct a search you’re not likely to be able to identify potential offenders, are you!

Dorset Police say, ‘A detailed examination and tests have been carried out on the bird, which were inconclusive…’. That’s simply not true. The eagle clearly died from Brodifacoum poisoning.

Dorset Police say, ‘While high levels of brodifacoum were detected, it has not been possible to establish whether this was as a result of a deliberate act or due to secondary rodenticide poisoning‘. It doesn’t matter if it was deliberate or not, it’s still an offence (mis-use).

There’s more to come on this case…

Dorset Police refuse FoI request for correspondence between them & Chris Loder MP on poisoned eagle

Last month, Dorset Police did the unthinkable and prematurely closed their investigation into the poisoning of a white-tailed eagle that was found dead on an undisclosed shooting estate in North Dorset in January 2022 (see here).

This was an astonishing decision for a number of reasons (e.g. see here), not least because prior to this incident, Dorset Police’s Rural & Wildlife Crime Team enjoyed a good reputation for it’s proactive stance in the investigation of raptor persecution crimes, and indeed the team had been preparing to conduct a multi-agency search of the estate where this dead eagle had been found, until the head honchos at Dorset Police decided to pull the plug.

It’s even more surprising when you learn what other police investigations into alleged wildlife crime have taken place on that unnamed estate – more on that soon.

Dorset Police’s decision to close the investigation came soon after an extraordinary outburst from local MP Chris Loder, who had argued on Twitter that Dorset ‘wasn’t the place for eagles’ and that Dorset Police should be focusing their resources on other types of criminality (see here) and not on suspected wildlife crime. And it wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark made in haste; he continued his tirade for sometime afterwards (e.g. see here). A quick look at Chris Loder’s Register of Interests on the Parliamentary website showed that his local Conservative party had received large donations from at least one shooting estate in North Dorset.

Unsurprisingly, there was widespread suspicion that Dorset Police’s decision to close the poisoned eagle investigation had been influenced by undue political interference so I submitted two Freedom of Information requests to find out if there was any evidence to support that suspicion. One FoI request was submitted to Dorset Police and the other to the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner.

Dorset Police have since attempted to fob me off with this idiotic response:

Obviously, I have requested a review of Dorset Police’s Refusal Notice. I don’t accept the likelihood that an MP might have written to any one of 2,500 Dorset Police employees about this poisoned eagle. That would include those employed as call handlers, personal safety trainers, crime analysts, enquiry officers, IT consultants, project managers, administrations staff, mechanics, accountants, lawyers, to name just a few.

It’s common sense that an MP interested in the investigation of a poisoned eagle would be more likely to have corresponded with senior officers responsible for the supervision of the Force’s Rural & Wildlife Crime Team, and that probably means a handful of officers, let’s say ten, max (and that’s being generous). So Dorset Police can probably strike 2,490 people from their search, leaving ten people to spend two minutes searching their inboxes, amounting to 20 minutes of total search time, well within the statutory 18 hours of search time permitted for a Freedom of Information request.

I’ve also pointed out to Dorset Police’s Freedom of Information Officer that MPs are not classed as public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act so advising me to submit an FoI to Chris Loder MP was non-sensical, although surely an FoI Officer would already know this?!

I’ll blog about the outcome of my review request in due course.

As mentioned above, I’d originally submitted two FoI requests. My second one was an identical request for information about correspondence between Chris Loder MP and the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Conservative David Sidwick.

Initially I received an automated response from the PCC office confirming receipt of my request. Then it all went quiet. I have since emailed two further times to highlight that their response is overdue (they’re allowed 20 working days). Yesterday I finally had a response, apologising for the delay and saying:

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

I’ll blog about that response when it finally arrives.

UPDATE 21st April 2022: Chris Packham submits FoI requests to Dorset Police and the Crime Commissioner about poisoned eagle (here)

UPDATE 26th April 2022: The office of the Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner: incompetent or something more sinister? (here)

UPDATE 29th April 2022: Email correspondence between Chris Loder MP and Dorset Police & Crime Commissioner re: poisoned eagle (here)

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)

UPDATE 26th May 2022: Further breach of Freedom of Information Act by Dorset Police re: poisoned eagle (here)

Buzzard & red kite suspected poisoned on North Dorset estate

Well this saga gets more interesting by the day.

I’ve written about the poisoned white-tailed eagle found dead on an as-yet undisclosed shooting estate in North Dorset and Dorset Police’s decision to close the investigation prematurely (see here, here, here, here and here).

I’ve also written about the suspected poisoning of another white-tailed eagle on another as-yet undisclosed shooting estate in North Dorset and a subsequent multi-agency raid in which items of interest have been submitted for toxicology assessment (see here).

Now there’s this – the suspected poisoning of a buzzard and a red kite on an as-yet undisclosed shooting estate in North Dorset, as revealed on Twitter this afternoon by Ian Denton:

More to follow……

Another pseudo ‘partnership’ supposedly tackling raptor persecution, this time in Yorkshire

A new report has been published today outlining the findings of what looks to me like yet another pseudo ‘partnership’, supposedly tackling the illegal killing of raptors, this time in Yorkshire, the UK’s worst hotspot for bird of prey persecution.

[Photo by Ruth Tingay]

Calling itself the Yorkshire Dales Birds of Prey Partnership, it involves the usual suspects including representatives from BASC, CLA, Moorland Association, National Gamekeepers Organisation as well as conservationists from the Northern England Raptor Forum and the RSPB, two police authorities (North Yorkshire and Cumbria), Natural England, Nidderdale AONB and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. The area covered by the ‘partnership’ includes the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the neighbouring Nidderdale AONB.

If this sounds at all familiar then you’d be right. It appears to be an almost carbon copy of the failed ‘partnership’ in the Peak District National Park, where the game-shooting organisations have done their level best to disrupt and distort the reporting of the scale of the persecution problem there, for years, and that so-called ‘partnership’ has failed to deliver time and time again (e.g. see here, here, here, here, here).

It’s hard not to be cynical about the Yorkshire version of the failed partnership, especially when essentially it appears to be many of the same players involved. Perhaps this time it’ll be different?

Who am I kidding.

The new report published today, called an ‘Evidence Report’, relates to 2020 and documents the status of raptor populations and the recorded persecution incidents from that year. It’s data-poor for most species, carefully avoids telling the public certain things (e.g. the Marsh harrier overview on page 7 is laughably coy about this incident) and tellingly, ‘Publication of the report was delayed to ensure the accuracy and completeness of bird of prey persecution data collated by the RSPB and audited by the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit‘ according to the accompanying press release. Yep, this is a common tactic deployed by certain shooting organisations who routinely challenge the RSPB’s official and carefully curated data, with the clear intention of discrediting the figures.

Here’s the report for anyone who can be bothered to read it:

ydnp-and-aonb-bird-of-prey-evidence-report-2020Download

UPDATE 29th June 2023: RSPB walks out of Yorkshire Dales sham Birds of Prey ‘Partnership’ due to Moorland Association’s usual media antics (here)

UPDATE 5th September 2024: Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) latest to walk away from Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale sham bird of prey ‘partnership’ (here)

Two gamekeepers expelled from BASC after wildlife crime convictions

The British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC) has expelled two of its members following convictions for wildlife crimes.

The two expelled members are gamekeeper Hilton Prest from Cheshire who was convicted in December 2021 and gamekeeper Shane Leech from Suffolk who was convicted in November 2021.

Unusually, BASC posted an announcement about the expulsions on its website last week:

I say ‘unusually’ because although I’m aware of previous expulsions from game-shooting organisations following wildlife crime convictions, these are not common and when they do happen we tend to see vague statements sometime later, such as, ‘The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has expelled five members in recent years‘, but there’s rarely any evidence provided by which to authenticate the claim.

I’d argue that this rare open & transparent statement from BASC is as a result of long-term campaigning by conservationists to get the shooting organisations to back up their claims of having ‘zero tolerance of raptor persecution’. I also see it as a sign that the shooting organisations are feeling the increasing pressure imposed by campaigners, forcing the shooting industry to show Government policy-makers that it can self-regulate and thus avoid the inevitable enforced regulation that is hurtling towards them in the near distance, following on the heels of the forthcoming regulation in Scotland.

Good work, everybody, and especially to the multi-agency teams (Suffolk & Cheshire Police, RSPB Investigations, Natural England, National Wildlife Crime Unit, Crown Prosecution Service) that secured the convictions of these two gamekeepers after months of painstaking work.

Multi-agency searches in raptor poisoning hotspot in Derbyshire

Multi-agency searches were conducted last week at a raptor-poisoning hotspot in Derbyshire.

Since 2015, at least eight illegally poisoned birds of prey including buzzards and kestrels, as well as poisoned pheasant baits, have been uncovered on farmland in the Glapwell / Ault Hucknall / Rowthorne / Pleasley area of north east Derbyshire. Toxicology analysis has confirmed they were killed by the poisons Aldicarb and Alphachloralose (see here).

[A dead buzzard found in the area. Photo by Derbyshire Constabulary]

Last week police officers from Derbyshire Police’s Rural Crime Team were joined by staff from the RSPB Investigations Team, Natural England and the National Wildlife Crime Unit to undertake a series of land searches. A number of follow-up investigations are now continuing as a result of those searches.

Derbyshire’s Rural Crime Team posted the following statement on Facebook yesterday:

‘Consider this post both an appeal for information and a public safety warning.

Over recent years there has been a concerning number of dead buzzards found to have died as a result of poisoning on land around the Glapwell / Ault Hucknall / Rowthorne / Pleasley area.

In response to this issue, last week Derbyshire Rural Crime Team, RSPB Birders , the NWCU and Natural England were involved in a day of action in the area. Land searches were conducted and other lines of enquiry pursued in what proved to be a very positive day.

Clearly these beautiful birds are being targeted. Killing birds of prey in any way is ILLEGAL but laying poison on land that can be easily accessed by the public poses a significant risk to public safety.

When out and about, should you find anything suspicious it is important that you contact the Police immediately. DO NOT touch or handle anything and do not let children or animals go near.

If you have any information that may aid this enquiry please contact Derbyshire Rural Crime Team’.

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

Six more satellite-tagged hen harriers ‘disappear’ in suspicious circumstances

Six more satellite-tagged hen harriers have gone missing in suspicious circumstances, according to the most recent data published by Natural England last Friday, 4th March.

Natural England’s previous hen harrier update, published in December 2021 (here), identified three other tagged harriers that had vanished in the summer/autumn of 2021.

Now there are six more. Three disappeared in November 2021, one in December 2021 and two in January 2022. Neither the police or Natural England have issued any media press releases or made any public appeals for information about any of them.

Here are the details of the latest six to vanish, in chronological order:

Brood meddled hen harrier R2-F1-20, female, hatched in 2020 at nest site BM R2 Cumbria, last known satellite tag fix on the edge of a grouse moor (believed to be on Arkengarthdale Estate) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park on 15th November 2021, grid ref: NY959039.

Hen harrier Val (Tag ID 213849), female, hatched in North Pennines in 2021, last known satellite tag fix in Cumbria, west of Coniston Water on 19th November 2021, grid ref: SD256921.

Hen harrier Percy (Tag ID 213847), male, hatched in Northumberland (nest site Northumberland 1) in 2021, last known satellite tag fix in the Scottish Borders nr Fala Moor on 19th November 2021, grid ref: NT410615.

Hen harrier Jasmine (Tag ID 213848), female, hatched in Cumbria in 2021, last known satellite tag fix on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor, Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB, North Yorkshire on 12th December 2021, grid ref: SE034733.

Hen harrier Ethel (Tag ID 213852), female, hatched in Northumberland (nest site Northumberland 2) in 2021, last known satellite tag fix in Hexham on 9th January 2022, grid ref: NY936632.

Hen harrier Amelia (Tag ID 213846), female, hatched Bowland in 2021, last known satellite tag fix in Bowland on 26th January 2022, no grid reference provided.

These suspicious disappearances are no longer shocking, not even when six of them are reported at the same time.

The complete lack of media appeals about any of them from Natural England and the various police forces is no longer shocking.

The lack of prominence in the recent update blog that Natural England has given these latest disappearances is no longer shocking.

The zero prospect of any so-called investigation progressing to a prosecution is no longer shocking.

The complete silence from the grouse-shooting industry about this continued organised crime is no longer shocking.

It’s all just so routine, isn’t it?

It doesn’t have to be. It’s up to you, as blog readers, to bring this scandal to the attention of your elected representative(s) and demand that they put pressure on the Government to take action.

I’ll update the ever-increasing list of hen harriers known to have been illegally killed in the UK or that have vanished in suspicious disappearances since 2018, most of them on or close to grouse moors, and will post it here shortly. It would be good if you could then send that list to your local MP so they can’t claim to be ignorant of what’s going on.

UPDATE 9th March 2022: 67 hen harriers confirmed ‘missing’ or illegally killed since 2018, most of them on or close to UK grouse moors (here)

Natural England still silent, apparently on police orders, about hen harrier whose wings were torn off

Natural England is maintaining its silence about the gruesome fate of one of its satellite-tagged hen harriers whose wings were torn off in an act of inconceivable violence in March last year.

I first blogged about this criminal investigation in December 2021 (here), where I discussed how Natural England had remained silent about it for months and months and months, even when the grouse shooting industry was wheeling out its annual propaganda-fest claiming to be the hen harrier’s best friend. Natural England, knowing full well what had happened to this young harrier, said nothing to challenge the shooting industry’s claims.

On 20th December 2021 Natural England tweeted that the incident (crime) was the subject of a police investigation so refused to comment further at that stage. I argued that this was a cop-out by Natural England because this particular investigation had begun over 9 months ago but nobody had been interviewed, let alone arrested or charged, and the likelihood of a prosecution was precisely zero, just as in the 60 other police investigations relating to hen harrier persecution in the last three years alone (see here).

Nothing further was heard until Natural England published a hen harrier update blog last Friday (4th March 2022) which included the following statement about this crime:

I still think this is a cop out by Natural England, backed up by the police – commentary could easily be given that would not compromise the supposedly ‘ongoing investigation’.

At the end of this month it’ll be one year since this crime was committed. Unless there is a significant statement from the police that somebody has been charged (there won’t be, believe me), I intend to blog about some of the details of this case in early April because I believe it’s in the public interest to do so.

UPDATE 25th August 2022: Hen harrier’s ‘wings removed’ & its satellite tag fitted to a crow in sick ploy to disguise the crime (here)