Category: Persecution Incidents in England

Two Hen Harriers vanish from RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve, suspected illegally killed on surrounding grouse moors

Press release from RSPB (20 May 2025)

Vanishing Hen Harriers Point To Yet More Illegal Killing

  • Two male Hen Harriers have suddenly disappeared from the RSPB Geltsdale Nature Reserve in Cumbria. It is strongly suspected these birds have been killed illegally.
  • RSPB says it is ‘sickened by the losses’, as both birds were in attendance at their nests until vanishing. 
  • Fears over losses prompt renewed calls for tougher regulation of grouse shooting industry.

Two rare male Hen Harriers have suddenly disappeared from their nest sites at Geltsdale in Northern England within a few days of each other. This comes on the back of another Geltsdale male Hen Harrier being found shot dead on neighbouring land in spring 2023.

Hen Harriers are a rare, protected species, known for their acrobatic ‘skydancing’ courtship display over the uplands. The Hen Harrier is categorised as a red-listed species in the UK, due to its low breeding population levels, following historic declines.

Male Hen Harrier. Photo by Pete Walkden

Despite being legally protected, multiple studies and reports confirm that illegal killing is the main factor limiting the recovery of Hen Harrier in the UK, causing a reduction in nesting success, annual productivity, and survival of breeding females. A recent study which investigated the illegal killing of Hen Harriers in association with gamebird management (Ewing, et al., 2023) has shown that the survival rates of Hen Harriers in the UK is “unusually low” with birds surviving for just 121 days after fledging, and bird persecution accounting for 27-41% of deaths of Hen Harriers aged under one year and 75% of deaths in birds aged between one and two years.  It also highlighted a strong overlap between Hen Harrier mortality and the extent of grouse moors.

Although this pattern of male birds disappearing from breeding sites has been seen before, the RSPB is particularly concerned and upset by these males going missing within a matter of days of each other. Observations show that the males haven’t returned to their nests since going missing and the RSPB local team is now providing food to the female at one of the nests in a desperate attempt to save the chicks. Male Hen Harriers hunt for prey several miles away from their nest sites and it is this activity which causes conflict with those who might wish to kill them in order to protect their grouse stocks used for commercial shooting.

RSPB Geltsdale is surrounded by grouse moors and male birds from Geltsdale have gone missing time and time again, most recently when a male was found shot dead on a neighbouring grouse moor in 2023 when the Police unable to prove who had killed it [Ed: Hen Harrier ‘Dagda’ found shot on the Knarsdale Estate, here. Other Geltsdale HHs that have ‘disappeared’ in recent years whilst away from the reserve hunting include males in 2020, 2021 and 2023, here].

Beccy Speight, RSPB Chief Executive, said – “Although sadly we are used to crimes against Hen Harriers, it is truly sickening to lose these particular birds from Geltsdale in such a short space of time and with them our hopes of a successful breeding season. The last five years have seen a high count of crimes against Hen Harriers with 102 suspected or confirmed incidents, the majority happening on or close to grouse moors. If these magnificent birds are ever going to have a sustainable population in England, this killing has to stop. We need the immediate introduction of a licencing system for grouse shooting, so estates proven by the Police and Natural England to be linked to raptor persecution would simply lose their licence to operate.”

The disappearances have been reported to the Police. The RSPB is currently campaigning for England to follow Scotland’s lead and licence grouse shooting. The wildlife charity says that any grouse shoot which breaks wildlife protection laws to the satisfaction of the Police and Natural England should risk closure for a defined period to provide a meaningful deterrent to such activities. With such a system, responsible shoots would have nothing to fear, while those who commit crimes can be held to account.

This week RSPB is asking the public to contact their MP and ask for action to be taken to protect our precious uplands, and to make crime against birds of prey a thing of the past.

Find out more here: Email your MP – Call time on moor crime | RSPB

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call the police on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form/

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

Police appeal for info about suspected shooting of buzzard in North York Moors National Park

Appeal for information from North Yorkshire Police on Facebook (12 May 2025):

Did you see anything suspicious?

Our Rural Task Force is appealing for information following the suspected shooting of a buzzard in the North York Moors National Park.

The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May, and we are appealing for anyone who may have seen any suspicious people or vehicles in the area to please come forward.

Buzzards and all other birds of prey are legally protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence which could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.

Buzzard photo by Pete Walkden

If you have any information that could help please email Chris.Unsworth@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Chris Unsworth.

If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 via their website.

Please quote NYP reference 12250082575 when passing on information.

ENDS

Goathland is probably best known to many as the filming location of the TV series ‘Heartbeat’. To me it’s known as one of a number of raptor persecution hotspots in the grouse moor-dominated North York Moors National Park.

Goathland is almost surrounded by intensively-managed driven grouse moors and in 2020 video footage emerged purporting to show a gamekeeper killing a Goshawk that had been trapped inside a Jackdaw-baited trap on one of the Queen’s grouse moors, part of the Duchy of Lancaster (see here and here).

Channel 4 News did a very good follow-up piece here.

A couple of years earlier, a group of local residents from Goathland got together and called a series of public meetings to discuss their concerns about the environmental damage caused by driven grouse moor management in their area, and particularly their concerns about ‘disappearing’ wildlife, notably satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. The North York Moors National Park has been identified in an excellent scientific paper based on Hen Harrier satellite tag data as the place with the highest risk of HH death/persecution in any of our National Parks – it’s no coincidence that the NYMNP also holds the largest expanse of grouse moors within its boundary.

Notes from the Goathland community meetings of disgruntled residents can be read here, here and here.

If you look at the map showing the distribution of signatures on Wild Justice’s recent Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition, it’s worth noting the high number of signatures in this area. I hope they’ll be making their voices heard again if/when the Government’s petitions committee announces the date for a debate in Westminster Hall.

The latest appeal from North Yorkshire Police about the suspected shooting of a buzzard near Goathland is a bit vague. It’s not clear if the appeal is a result of a witness report of someone seen shooting a Buzzard or whether a corpse has been found and is awaiting post mortem.

The police appeal says, ‘The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May…‘.

Here is an annotated map from Guy Shrubsole’s brilliant website Who Owns England, showing the extent of the Duchy of Lancaster grouse moors (purple) around Goathland. I’ve added the approximate location (in red) of the Beck Hole Road.

UPDATE 22 May 2025: Incident update – Buzzard found dead near Goathland in North York Moors National Park ‘was shot’ (here).

87-year-old man pleads not guilty to 11 charges relating to alleged raptor persecution in Lincolnshire – case now goes to trial

Brian Chorlton, aged 87, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday (8 May 2025) to answer 11 charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoners kit, and possession and use of four pole traps.

These charges are a result of a police investigation in to reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.

Mr Chorlton pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges and this case will now proceed to trial, scheduled for October 2025.

NB: Comments are turned off as this case is live.

Photo by Ruth Tingay

UPDATE 26 September 2025: Trial of 87-year-old man accused of 11 offences relating to raptor persecution is put on hold as defence applies for Judicial Review of judge’s ruling (here)

Lancashire man convicted of shooting Tawny Owl in local park

In July 2024 Joe Morris, 28, of White Grove, Colne, Lancashire was charged with killing two wild birds with an air rifle after police received reports of someone seen dumping a Tawny Owl and a Woodpigeon in a wheelie bin in Colne in March 2024 (see here).

Tawny Owl. Photo by Pete Walkden

This case was heard in November 2024 but it missed my radar so here, for completeness, is a belated report, thanks to the court reporter Andrew Bellard at the Lancashire Telegraph who wrote the following article, published 18 November 2024:

DRUNK MAN SHOT TAWNY OWL AND WOOD PIGEON AT ALKINCOATS PARK

A drunk man shot two “beautiful” birds with an air rifle when he went shooting in a public park.

Blackburn magistrates heard Joe Morris was drunk when he went to the park and shot a tawny owl and a wood pigeon.

Morris, 28, of White Grove, Colne, pleaded guilty to possessing an air weapon in Alkincoats Park, Colne, and killing a tawny owl and a wood pigeon.

He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.

He was fined £40 with £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

District Judge Alexandra Preston said wildlife was priceless and Morris had killed two beautiful birds.

“It is alarming to think you were out with an air rifle and, by your own admission, you were drunk when you did this,” she said.

Henry Prescott, prosecuting, said police received an anonymous tip-off about a man returning to his home address and putting a tawny owl and a wood pigeon in his wheelie bin.

The caller said Morris regularly went to Alkincoats Park shooting wild birds.

When officers spoke to Morris at his home he admitted what he had done and recovered the birds from the bin.

Mr Prescott said the air rifle was not an illegal weapon and had not been seized by the police.

Mark Williams, defending, said his client had disposed of the air rifle and had no intention of replacing it.

“He is very embarrassed and ashamed of what he did,” said Mr Williams.

“He can’t and doesn’t wish to put forward any excuses. He accepts what he did was very inappropriate.”

Mr Williams said his client had problems with alcohol and had self-referred to Inspire.

ENDS

Gamekeeper from a Yorkshire Dales grouse moor charged in relation to alleged shooting of hen harrier (as featured on Channel 4 News in October)

In October last year, Channel 4 News featured incredible footage secretly filmed by the RSPB’s investigations team of three gamekeepers plotting to kill, and then allegedly killing, a hen harrier on an unnamed grouse moor in the north of England (see here).

If you missed the piece on Channel 4 News you can watch it here:

The audio quality on the footage was remarkable, allowing viewers to listen to the three gamekeepers discussing what not to shoot (a hen harrier with a satellite tag) and what to shoot (an untagged hen harrier, whose death would not be revealed to the wider world, or so they thought).

They were also heard discussing what else they’d apparently casually shot that afternoon – a buzzard and a raven, both protected species.

An untagged hen harrier. Photo by Pete Walkden

According to one of my media sources, a gamekeeper has now been charged in relation to this incident for an alleged offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

At this stage I’m not publishing the name of the accused, or the name of the grouse moor where the footage was captured, although I understand this information is widely known within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The accused is due in court for a first appearance next month.

NB: As an individual has now been charged, comments are disabled on this blog until criminal proceedings have ended to avoid prejudicing the case.

Peregrine eggs smashed at St Albans Cathedral as person seen walking over them on livestream camera

An individual is ‘helping police with their inquiries‘ after a person was seen on livestream camera deliberately walking over three Peregrine falcon eggs laid by the resident breeding pair at St Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire yesterday.

The livestream feed, run in partnership by St Albans Cathedral and Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, has been taken off air.

A livestream viewer said:

“The female bird was sitting on the eggs and all of a sudden there was a noise that spooked her, it sounded like a door opening.

“Then I saw a man’s leg enter in front of the camera. He stood there for 30 or 40 seconds before literally walking across – he didn’t stamp but he stepped on the eggs and just kept walking“.

More details on BBC News website here.

UPDATE 5 May 2025: ‘Investigation still ongoing’ into person seen trampling Peregrine eggs at St Albans Cathedral (here).

Thousands of gamebirds culled at breeding facility in N Yorkshire after bird flu outbreak

The number of outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is showing no sign of slowing down, with the latest flurry of cases reported in Yorkshire and County Durham.

So much so that from today (7th April 2025), the regional Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) mandating enhanced biosecurity and housing for kept birds currently in force across Cheshire, City of Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Merseyside, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire and York has now been extended to cover the following counties:

Cumbria, County Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside.

One of the recent outbreaks reported in North Yorkshire caught my eye. Here’s the report of a case on 30 March 2025:

‘Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial poultry and other captive birds at a premises near Pickering, Thirsk & Malton, North Yorkshire (AIV 2025/37).

‘A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been declared around the premises. All affected birds on the premises will be humanely culled‘.

The grid reference given for the centre of the protection zone (i.e. the location of the H5N1 outbreak at the centre of the blue circle) is given as: SE7592387464.

This appears to be Westfield Farms, Cropton Lane, Pickering, just on the border of the North York Moors National Park.

Sound familiar?

In 2015 the owner of Westfield Farms, where pheasants, red-legged partridges and ducks are bred and reared to be sold for gamebird shooting was convicted of permitting the use of a pole trap at his game farm after the RSPB filmed him driving past and appearing to look in the direction of a pole trap set above a rearing pen.

Pole traps have been banned since 1904. It’s a barbaric way to kill any animal and causes horrendous suffering and distress, often over a period of many hours. A spring trap is placed on a post where a bird of prey is likely to perch. When the bird lands on the ‘plate’, the trap springs shut on the bird’s legs. When the bird tries to fly off, it ends up dangling upside down because the trap is attached to the post by a chain to prevent it from being carried away. The bird remains dangling, often with severe injuries, until its ultimate demise.

The game farm owner had denied any knowledge of the pole trap but after viewing the RSPB’s footage, magistrates said it was “inconceivable” that he wouldn’t have seen it. In addition to his conviction for permitting the use of a trap, two of his staff were cautioned by police after a total of five set pole traps were found at the game farm (see here).

North Yorkshire Police collecting one of five illegally-set pole traps at Westfield Farm. Photo: RSPB

However, the game farm owner’s conviction was quashed on appeal later that year after judges at York Crown Court declared that “the prosecution had failed to prove its case” (i.e. that the game farm owner had seen the illegal trap) – see here.

Sign at Cropton last week (supplied by RPUK blog reader). Spot the pheasant!

Buzzard found shot dead in Wolverhampton: RSPCA appeals for information

The RSPCA has issued an appeal for information following the discovery of a dead buzzard that is believed to have been shot.

The buzzard was found by a member of the public near Severn Trent’s Four Ashes Sewage Treatment Works on Enterprise Drive, Wolverhampton, on Wednesday 12 March 2025. It reportedly had ‘pellet wounds to its wing, body and head‘.

The shot buzzard. Photo by RSPCA

There isn’t any information about the type of weapon used (e.g. air rifle, shotgun etc). There were also reports of a second buzzard being killed in the same area but the RSPCA was unable to find a body.

Anyone with information about this incident should contact RSPCA’s appeal line number on 0300 123 8018, quoting incident number 01467643.

Crown Court upholds police decision to revoke convicted gamekeeper John Bryant’s shotgun & firearms certificates

Further to the news about the conviction and sentencing of Lincolnshire farmer/gamekeeper John Bryant for multiple offences at Grange Farms, West Ashby in October 2022, relating to an investigation into the illegal persecution of birds of prey (see here, here and here), Lincolnshire Police’s Rural Crime Team has provided some information about the revocation of Bryant’s shotgun and firearms certificates.

Convicted farmer/gamekeeper John Bryant

“We have been asked about his firearms/shotgun certificates.

“As a direct result of this investigation. Both from matters revolving around the storage and security of firearms and ammunition along with this case being brought against him, his authority to possess firearms and shotguns was also withdrawn. In other words, Lincolnshire Police revoked those certificates so he could no longer possess licensable guns.

“This was contested at Lincoln Crown Court whereby his legal team failed to argue the case and judgement was held in support of the Police decision to revoke them.

“This should also stand as a warning to all certificate holders. One criminal act can easily lose you your right to possess firearms, but also the way you store/secure/keep those firearms can also have a huge detrimental impact on those certificates“.

It sounds then, that in addition to the charges against Bryant for the poison and trap offences, there was also an issue about the storage and security of his firearms and ammunition, although I haven’t seen any report of charges being brought against him for those alleged offences, just a revocation of his licences.

Given that the appeal hearing against his firearms and shotgun licence revocations was held at Lincoln Crown Court (date unknown), this probably accounts for at least some of the reported £100,000 costs incurred by Bryant for his defence, as mentioned in court during his sentencing hearing yesterday.

Looking at the account’s for Grange Farms (West Ashby) Ltd, held on Companies House website, which lists Bryant as one of several Directors (here), the family’s company can easily afford to cover Bryant’s own legal costs in addition to the fine and costs he received from the court (£7,449) from the company’s £1 million+ capital and reserves.

I do wonder about the firearms and shotgun revocations though. Can other family members, residing and/or working at the same property, hold their own certificates and thus legitimately keep firearms and shotguns on the premises? And if so, what measures are taken to ensure John Bryant doesn’t have access to them?

These are genuine questions. I’d welcome the opinion of any firearms experts who might be reading this.

RSPB statement on conviction of Lincolnshire gamekeeper John Bryant

Further to today’s earlier blog on the sentencing of Lincolnshire gamekeeper John Bryant who was found guilty of multiple crimes after a police investigation into the illegal killing of a red kite and two buzzards (see here), the RSPB Investigations Team has issued the following press release:

GAMEKEEPER ORDERED TO PAY OVER £7,000 AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF POISON AND TRAP-RELATED OFFENCES

  • Numerous birds of prey had been poisoned in the Belchford area of Lincolnshire over a number of years, leading to a police investigation.
  • Police uncovered large quantities of banned poison and illegal traps on the gamebird shoot.
  • The RSPB is urging the government to introduce a licensing scheme for all gamebird shooting, with the sanction to remove licences to shoot if wildlife protection laws are broken, and to act as a meaningful deterrent to bird of prey crimes in particular.

After a two-day trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, John Bryant (40), of West Ashby, Horncastle was found guilty on 7 March 2025 in relation to four offences. He was sentenced on 20 March 2025 and ordered to pay £7,449 in total – including £2112 in fines for the four offences, £4,492 in costs and a victim surcharge of £845. The court heard how a number of birds of prey were found poisoned in the Belchford area over several years, and how Lincolnshire Police then led a multi-agency search on a pheasant and partridge shoot at Grange Farms, West Ashby in October 2022 together with the RSPB, National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and Natural England.

This case is yet another example of why the RSPB is urging Westminster to introduce a system of licensing for gamebird shooting, to afford birds of prey better protection, and to follow Scotland’s lead on licensing all grouse shooting as a positive start.

Bryant, a gamekeeper and farmer, pleaded guilty to two offences relating to the illegal storage and usage of Alphachloralose. Alphachloralose can be legally used as a poison for rodents using products at 4% concentration or lower. However, during a search of his home, police found the poison illegally decanted into pots in the suspect’s vehicle and outbuilding. These two pots were tested under the WIIS (Wildlife Incident Investigations Scheme) run by Natural England, and found to contain banned and highly dangerous levels (85% and 88%) of the deadly substance. Alphachloralose remains one of the most common substances used for poisoning birds of prey.

Bryant was also found guilty of two offences relating to the possession of two pole traps, deemed as items capable of committing a wildlife offence. Police found unset spring traps (similar to a powerful mouse trap) hanging from wooden posts at two locations on land managed by Bryant. This set up is commonly recognized as a pole trap, used to catch and brutally injure birds of prey that perch on the post when hunting. Pole traps have been banned since 1904.

Forensic DNA analysis conducted by SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) found traces of Tawny Owl and wood pigeon DNA on one spring trap and the other spring trap tested positive for wood pigeon DNA. Bryant was found not guilty of setting any pole traps.

The District Judge said he found it unrealistic that Bryant would not have known the pole traps were on his land, which had been part of his defence.

Police also found four unset gin traps in an outbuilding belonging to the suspect. Forensic DNA analysis conducted by SASA found bird of prey DNA on three of the gin traps (a mechanical device, illegal in the UK since 1958, designed to catch an animal by the leg using spring-operated jaws). Two had Buzzard DNA on them, with a Sparrowhawk feather identified in the jaws of a third trap. Bryant was charged in relation to possession of the gin traps being items capable of committing a wildlife offence, but was found not guilty.

An assortment of traps found in Bryant’s garage. Photo: RSPB
One of the gin traps with what look like relatively fresh nettles caught in the jaw. Photo: RSPB

Several birds of prey have been found poisoned in the Belchford area over a number of years. In 2022 a Buzzard was found poisoned by Alphachloralose. In 2020 another Buzzard was killed having ingested the banned insecticide Aldicarb, and in 2017 a Red Kite was killed by Alphachloralose. Bryant was not charged in relation to poisoning any of these birds.

It is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a wild bird in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Yet the persecution of raptors persists, particularly in connection with land managed for gamebird shooting. Of all individuals convicted of bird of prey persecution-related offences from 2009 to 2023, 68% have been gamekeepers.

Howard Jones, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer, said:

“This case highlights the immense value of police searches in relation to bird of prey persecution which clearly has been an issue in this area. This search found illegal poisons being used in a hugely dangerous manner, putting the public and wildlife at risk, along with a number of illegal traps.

“We are urging the UK Government to introduce a system of licensing for all gamebird shooting, whereby this licence to operate could be revoked if crimes against birds of prey are detected on an estate. This would set a better precedent and act as a greater deterrent to those tempted to commit these crimes. “We thank Lincolnshire Police, and in particular DC Aaron Flint, on an excellent investigation into this case, demonstrating the value in strong partnership working in tackling bird of prey persecution“.

DC Aaron Flint, Forces Wildlife Crime Officer at Lincolnshire Police, said:

“Unfortunately, this case is just one of a large number of bird of prey poisonings reported in Lincolnshire in recent years. However, the outcome demonstrates that Lincolnshire Police takes bird of prey persecution seriously. We thoroughly investigate any reports that relate to criminal activity around birds of prey. Our message is this: If you commit crimes against wildlife in Lincolnshire, we will identify you and you will be put before the courts.

“This investigation was made possible through close collaboration with multiple agencies, and I want to express my gratitude to the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the RSPB, Natural England, CPS and SASA for their invaluable support. The Forensic Analysis Fund also played a vital role in advancing this investigation“.

Chief Inspector Kevin Lacks-Kelly, Head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit:

“Thanks to the work of Police and Partners we have seen justice delivered. This conviction sends a strong message that bird of prey crime will not be tolerated, and you will feel the full force of the national policing capability. These offences are not only cruel, the undermine the conservation of our vulnerable wildlife. These birds should be free for us all to enjoy, not consigned to a police evidence bags.”

If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, call the Police on 101 and fill in the RSPB’s online reporting form: www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/wild-bird-crime-report-form

If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

Well done to Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Team and the partner agencies whose hard work resulted in Bryant’s conviction.

£7,000 is a relatively small fine given the seriousness of Bryant’s crimes, although when compared with some of the recent pathetic fines handed out by courts for wildlife crimes, this figure can be viewed as being substantial.

I’ve also been told by a blog reader who was observing proceedings in court, that it was mentioned that Bryant’s defence costs were £100,000. If that figure is accurate then he certainly has taken a big financial hit.