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Tag: gamekeeper
Case against Stody Estate gamekeeper Allen Lambert: part 2
Last week we blogged about Norfolk gamekeeper Allen Lambert who had been charged with seven alleged wildlife crime offences including the killing of 14 buzzards, 1 sparrowhawk and 1 tawny owl (see here).
The case against 64-year old Lambert, a gamekeeper on the award-winning Stody Estate, was heard last Thursday (19th December 2013) at Kings Lynn magistrates court.
It has been reported that Lambert pled guilty to keeping banned pesticides (Mevinphos & Aldicarb) but denied killing raptors and keeping some of their bodies.
His case was adjourned until 22nd January 2014.
Interestingly, the news report calls Lambert a ‘former’ gamekeeper.
News report from EDP24 here.
Case against Scottish gamekeeper James Marsh to continue in Feb
Criminal proceedings against Scottish gamekeeper James Marsh continued at Stirling Sheriff Court last Thursday (19th December 2013).
Marsh, 49, of Middle Ballewan near Blanefield, Stirling is facing charges related to alleged wildlife crime and animal welfare offences which are said to have taken place near Duntreath Castle in April 2012.
The charges, which Marsh has denied, relate to the alleged trapping of a Tawny owl and other associated offences.
His case was continued on Thursday and is expected to conclude in February 2014.
Previous blog post here.
Gamekeeper convicted of setting an illegal pole trap
Here’s another example of how our fine ‘custodians of the countryside’ are the “most effective conservationists working in the British countryside today“.
On 9 December 2013 at Herefordshire Magistrates Court, 39-year old gamekeeper Wayne Priday was convicted of setting an illegal pole trap close to his pheasant release pen near Elton, close to Ludlow, in August this year.
He was fined £375 and ordered to pay £170 costs. Gosh, a £545 fine – that’ll learn ‘im.
Priday was caught thanks to covert video footage filmed by the RSPB Investigations Team. (Remember, this is in England where covert video evidence is readily accepted by the courts, unlike here in Scotland).
RSPB investigators visited Priday’s pheasant pen on 7th August 2013 and found a pole trap set in position on top of a post. The trap had been camouflaged with moss. Investigators disabled the trap and set a covert camera in place to identify the trap user.
The following day, along came Priday who was filmed examining the trap and clearly looking puzzled that it had been sprung without catching anything (see the covert video footage here – it’s hilarious). He unfastened the trap, put it in his vehicle and drove away.
Priday was later interviewed by West Mercia Police and he admitted setting the trap, although he claimed it was for squirrels.
Well done to the RSPB Investigations Team and also to West Mercia Police for a successful conviction.
We wonder whether Priday is a member of the National Gamekeepers Organisation? And if so, whether they will be expelling him from their club or whether they think Priday’s crime is not a ‘wildlife crime’ (e.g. as they did here). Shall we ask them? Emails to: info@nationalgamekeepers.org.uk
Pole traps have been illegal in the UK since 1904. Essentially they consist of a spring trap which is attached to a post, often by a chain. Posts are often used by birds of prey to perch on to give them a good vantage point. When the raptor lands on the set pole trap, one or both of its legs gets caught in the jaws of the trap. When the bird attempts to fly away it is prevented from doing so because the trap is attached to the post. This causes the bird to dangle upside down where it will inevitably die a prolonged and horrific death. It is probably one of the most barbaric traps around, hence it being banned for over 100 years.
Here is a photograph of a buzzard (still alive) caught in another pole trap. It did not survive its injuries.
Gamekeeping orgs’ half-witted attempts to blur the truth
Earlier this month the RSPB published two reports: one detailing raptor persecution crimes in Scotland during 2012 (see here) and one detailing raptor persecution crimes throughout the UK in 2012 (see here).
You’d think that the RSPB’s so-called ‘partners’ in the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) would welcome the reports, highlighting as they do the continued criminal persecution of birds of prey. That’s what PAW partners are all about, right? Raising public awareness and finding ways of cracking down on wildlife crime?
Apparently not.
Here is the response of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation to the RSPB’s UK-wide report. In case they decide to remove it from their website, we’ve reproduced it here:
NGO Comments on the RSPB 2013 Birdcrime Report
Saturday 14th Dec 2013
The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation has issued the following comment on publication of the latest edition of the RSPB Birdcrime Report.
A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said: “The NGO stands for keepering within the law and automatically condemns illegal activity. That is why the NGO is proud to be a member of PAW – the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime. Furthermore, science has proven gamekeepers to be some of the most effective conservationists working in the British countryside today.
Intriguingly the RSPB’s shrill comments on persecution appear to lack the context that is essential for the public to form its own considered opinion. What the RSPB fails to mention in its news release is that the UK’s bird of prey population, taken as a whole, is thriving, with almost all species at record high levels.
This seems a curious oversight for a charity required by law to educate the public in a balanced manner. This very important omission is intriguing, given the RSPB’s usually conscientious approach to its work. I believe it is fair to ask whether it’s perhaps to encourage charitable donations to the RSPB in the run-up to Christmas, a time of year when people are quick to put their hands in their wallets?
To view the RSPB 2013 Birdcrime Report News Release visit http://www.rspb.org.uk/media/releases/359085-sixty-years-of-protection-but-the-killing-continues
Good god, where do we start? With the bit about gamekeepers being ‘some of the most effective conservationists working in the British countryside today’?!! Or the bit about how we, the general public, are unable to form our own ‘considered opinion’ because the report apparently ‘lacks context’?!!
How about the statement: “What the RSPB fails to mention in its news release is that the UK’s bird of prey population, taken as a whole, is thriving, with almost all species at record high levels“.
The reason the RSPB ‘failed to mention’ this is probably because it’s a big fat massive distortion of the truth! ‘Almost all species at record high levels‘? That would be ‘almost all species’ apart from golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, hen harrier, red kite, goshawk, peregrine; all of which are being held at unnaturally low population levels thanks to illegal persecution, according to countless scientific studies.
And what on earth does ‘taking the UK’s bird of prey population as a whole‘ mean? Where’s the scientific validity of that? It’s absolutely meaningless pseudo-scientific rubbish! It’s like saying there’s no need to be concerned about the near-extinction of rhinos or elephants in Africa because big mammals ‘as a whole’ are doing ok.
Not to be outdone in the idiot stakes, the NGO’s Scottish colleagues at the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association have published their own statement in response to the RSPB’s Scotland Persecution report. We’ve reproduced it here:
SGA STATEMENT: RSPB BIRD OF PREY REPORT
Following the release of an unofficial report by the RSPB today on the Illegal Killing of Birds of Prey in 2012, the SGA issued the following response. An SGA Spokesman said: “The RSPB has clearly spent a lot of money in writing this report, which entitles them to put forward their own viewpoint. “With this agenda in mind, it is important, that the public refer to the actual crimes, as published annually by the Scottish Government with information provided officially by the Police and SASA, rather than speculative possible or suspected cases, which are clearly going to confuse the public. “All PAW partners, including ourselves, are fully behind the printing of the official statistics annually, based on actual legal cases, and see no reason why this should change. “While we have been encouraged by the progress made, with the official statistics stating a record of only 3 confirmed cases of illegal poisoning of birds of prey in 2012, reports such as this do little other than damage to on-going partnership efforts designed to reduce crimes against birds of prey. “As stated consistently, the SGA continues to advocate legal means to solving countryside conflicts. Because of this, the clarity and impartiality provided by law is important to us.”
Again, not what you might expect from a PAW ‘partner’. According to the SGA, the public are ‘clearly going to be confused’ by the report’s contents. Really? Is anybody ‘confused’? We’re not – the report presents the facts in the most clear way possible – the illegal persecution of raptors continues to take place on game-shooting estates up and down the country. Our raptors are still being poisoned, trapped, shot, and bludgeoned to death on sporting estates and the majority of the criminals are still avoiding prosecution: we call them The Untouchables.
It’s also interesting to see the SGA continue to peddle the myth that poisoning is in decline. According to our 2013 figures, poisoning in Scotland has actually increased by 66% in this, the Year of Natural Scotland, and that’s not including the discovery of poisoned baits…if we included every single poisoned bait found this year (as each one had the potential to kill at least one raptor had the baits not been discovered and removed), then the figure would jump to a phenomenal 1,333% increase in poisoning!!!
The SGA claims that the RSPB’s report does ‘little other than damage the on-going partnership efforts designed to reduce crimes against birds of prey’. We would argue that the SGA’s continued involvement in the PAW Scotland raptor group, and the NGO’s continued involvement in the English PAW group, does little other than taint the credibility of the PAW concept. In fact it doesn’t just taint it – it soaks it in implausibility. The sooner the other PAW partners realise this and vote these gamekeeping organisations off the panel, the better. PAW is not going to achieve anything as long as some of the ‘partners’ continue to deny and distort the facts. Oh, and harbour convicted wildlife criminals.
Case against gamekeeper George Mutch: part 5
Criminal proceedings against Scottish gamekeeper George Mutch of Kildrummy Estate, Aberdeenshire, continued yesterday at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
This was the 5th hearing for offences alleged to have taken place in August 2012.
Mutch was facing six charges of alleged wildlife crime. Yesterday he pled not guilty to all six. The court accepted his not guilty plea for two charges (under Section 1 subsection 2A of the Wildlife & Countryside Act: relating to the possession of dead birds) but four other charges remain.
The remaining four charges come under Section 5 subsection 1B of the WCA (relating to the use of a trap for the purpose of taking or killing wild birds) and Section 1 subsection 1A of the WCA (relating to the killing, injuring or taking of wild birds).
An intermediate diet will take place on 17th March 2014, and a provisional trial date has been set for 28th May 2014.
Norfolk gamekeeper faces series of raptor persecution charges
A Norfolk gamekeeper is facing seven charges of alleged wildlife crime.
Allen Lambert, 64, of Stody, near Melton Constable, has been charged with killing 16 wild birds (14 buzzards, 1 sparrowhawk and 1 tawny owl), possession of nine birds (buzzards), failure to comply with a firearms certificate, and four counts of possession and storage of banned poisons (Aldicarb and Mevinphos).
The alleged offences took place between January and April 2013.
Lambert is currently on bail and will appear before King’s Lynn Magistrates court on Thursday (19th Dec).
Morvich Estate gamekeepers’ trial delayed again!
The trial of three gamekeepers from the Morvich Estate, Sutherland, has once again been postponed. This is the 8th adjournment since the case was first brought in November 2012.
The three defendants, Mathew Johnston (21), Jamie Neal (37), and William Docharty (58) are charged with a string of wildlife crimes alleged to have taken place on Morvich Estate on 16 February 2012.
Their trial was due to start on Monday (16th December 2013) but has now been put back until 7th April 2014 – more than two years after the alleged offences occurred.
Thanks to the contributor who sent in a copy of the following article from yesterday’s Press & Journal:
Estate trio on wildlife charges.
Three north estate workers face trial next year accused of committing a string of wildlife offences on a sporting estate in Sutherland.
Mathew Johnston, 21, Jamie Neal, 37, and William Docharty, 58, were not present at Tain Sheriff Court yesterday when their case called.
All three pleaded not guilty through solicitors. The case had been due to go to trial next week but was postponed to next year at the request of the court. The trial is now due to start on April 7 [2014].
All the charges are alleged to have taken place on Morvich Estate, Sutherland, on February 16 last year [2012].
Johnston, of Morvich House, Morvich Estate, Rogart, faces four charges. These include that he set six snares on a fence which would have caused an animal unnecessary suffering as any creature caught would likely have become suspended from the contraption.
Neal, of The Bothy, Morvich Estates, faces the same charge involving seven snares.
Docharty, of 10, Elizabeth Court, Dornoch, faces a similar charge involving two snares set on a log over water which would likely cause any animal trapped to be suspended from the log and drown.
Johnston is further alleged to have been in possession of a dead barnacle goose and to have failed to dispose of three sheep carcases in an appropriate manner.
Neal faces four further charges including two alleging that he failed to provide a suitable environment for nine crows by not providing food and water, a perch and adequate shelter.
For previous blogs about this case please see here.
‘Persecution of sporting estates is bad for birdlife’ says NGO Chairman
A fascinating article has appeared on the Shooting Times website today, written by regular columnist Lindsay Waddell, who also just happens to be the Chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation.
His opening words are these:
“Protection of predators and persecution of sporting estates are bad for birdlife“.
His rationale for this statement appears to be that there are no takers for the lease of what he calls a ‘prestigious moor’ (hmm, wonder what makes it a ‘prestigious’ moor?) and that soon it may be lost to conifer plantation and wind turbines, and all of this is due to the ‘relentless persecution of estate owners and those employed as gamekeepers‘.
What he doesn’t say is how he defines ‘the relentless persecution’ of estate owners and gamekeepers. Is he defining media reports as ‘persecution’? Perhaps he thinks that any publicity about the discovery of a poisoned golden eagle on a sporting estate with a long history of similar incidents is ‘persecution’ of the estate owner? Or maybe he thinks that the publication of video footage showing a gamekeeper bludgeoning buzzards to death with a fence post is ‘persecution’ of the gamekeeper? Or perhaps any commentary about yet another gamekeeper being charged with yet another alleged wildlife crime is ‘persecution’ of the gamekeeping industry?
Ironically, he goes on to suggest that had this level of ‘persecution’ been directed at any other group of workers, they would have had some form of legal redress available! Funny that – we have long argued that had any other group of workers been caught carrying out the type of sustained & widespread criminality that is regularly taking place on some sporting estates, the criminals would have been locked up a long time ago and the ‘business’ forced to close.
What Lindsay fails to grasp, even though it’s really not that hard, is that if the illegal killing of raptors, by many gamekeepers on many sporting estates, would stop, then the game-shooting industry may be viewed a lot more favourably than it is now. Unfortunately, the illegal killing continues, and organisations like the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation don’t help matters when they refuse to expel members who have been convicted of wildlife crimes (e.g. see here).
There’s some other guff at the end of his article about how predators are apparently eating all the prey and the conservation agencies should stop protecting predators blah blah blah….
In the meantime, watch this space for some more reports about dead raptors that have been discovered on sporting estates up and down the country having been poisoned/shot/trapped/bludgeoned…reports that the game-shooting industry would rather you didn’t know about.
Shooting Times article here
Another Scottish gamekeeper accused of alleged wildlife crimes
The trial of a Scottish gamekeeper accused of a series of alleged wildlife and animal welfare crimes has been adjourned until later this month.
49-year old gamekeeper James Marsh, of Middle Ballewan near Blanefield, Stirling is facing trial for offences alleged to have taken place near Duntreath Castle in April 2012.
We understand the charges include the trapping of a Tawny Owl in a Larsen trap and related welfare offences, and various other charges relating to the possession of a Jay and associated welfare offences.
Marsh denies the charges.
His trial at Stirling Sheriff Court was adjourned in mid-November and will next be heard on 19th December.
Raptor Persecution UK 