Further to this morning’s blog, gamekeeper Racster Dingwall has pleaded guilty to two charges, including conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor on the Conistone & Grassington Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park on 2nd October 2024.
He was fined £400 for each offence, plus a surcharge of £320 + £400 costs (total = £1,520).
Convicted gamekeeper Racster Dingwall (on the left) leaving York Magistrates’ Court with his solicitor after sentencing (photo by Ruth Tingay)
The judge made some remarks that I found absolutely staggering….much more on that later.
In haste.
UPDATE 15.15hrs: Gamekeeper pleads guilty in England’s first ever Hen Harrier persecution case (RSPB press release) here.
UPDATE 18.00hrs: Statement from North Yorkshire Police on conviction of gamekeeper Racster Dingwall (here)
UPDATE 30 January 2026: Some commentary on the conviction and sentencing of gamekeeper Racster Dingwall (here)
UPDATE 7 February 2026: Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group in desperate attempt to divert attention away from conviction of Yorkshire Dales gamekeeper Racster Dingwall (here)
The trial begins at York Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 29th January 2026 for gamekeeper Racster Dingwall, accused of conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
York Magistrates’ Court. Photo by Ruth Tingay
The prosecution alleges Mr Dingwall was one of three gamekeepers caught on the RSPB’s covert footage from the Conistone & Grassington Estate on 2nd October 2024, as broadcast on Channel 4 News.
Mr Dingwall pleaded not guilty to two charges at an earlier hearing at Skipton Magistrates’ Court on 2 May 2025 (here) and the case was sent to York Magistrates’ Court for a trial in front of a District judge.
At a pre-trial hearing in September 2025, Mr Dingwall’s barrister failed to get the case thrown out on a technicality after the District judge ruled the RSPB’s evidence was legally obtained and therefore admissible (see here).
As a consequence, a two-day trial was set for 29th and 30th January 2026.
Interestingly, tomorrow’s case has been listed as a ‘sentencing’ hearing, which suggests that Mr Dingwall intends to plead guilty.
NB: Because criminal legal proceedings are live, the comment facility has been switched offuntil the case has concluded.
UPDATE 29 January 2026: Gamekeeper Racster Dingwall pleads guilty to conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park (here)
UPDATE 29 January 2026: Gamekeeper pleads guilty in England’s first ever Hen Harrier persecution case (RSPB press release) here.
UPDATE 30 January 2026: Some commentary on the conviction and sentencing of gamekeeper Racster Dingwall (here)
For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of Hen Harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise.
This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that had been placed next to his nest on a Scottish grouse moor (see here). Photo by Ruth Tingay
This is the blog I now publish after every reported killing or suspicious disappearance.
“They disappear in the same way political dissidents in authoritarian dictatorships have disappeared” (Stephen Barlow, 22 January 2021).
Today the list has been revised to reflect updates in various reports since I last updated the list in July 2025. There isn’t a one-stop shop (apart from this list) where you can find information about ‘missing’ or illegally killed Hen Harriers – the information for this list is sourced and cross-referenced from various places, including Natural England’s database, the RSPB’s database, the HSE’s database, police reports, RSPB Birdcrime reports and FoIs to various agencies. This list doesn’t include any Hen Harriers that have been listed as having a natural cause of death (e.g. known/suspected predation), or listed as ‘likely tag failure’, or known to have been lost abroad, or where the cause of death is inconclusive, unless there is additional information (e.g. from satellite tag data) which indicates suspicious or illegal activity. It is painstaking work that takes a lot of time to complete, but I consider it to be as accurate and comprehensive as it can be at the time of writing.
I’ve been compiling this list only since 2018 because that is the year that the grouse shooting industry ‘leaders’ would have us believe that the criminal persecution of Hen Harriers had stopped and that these birds were being welcomed back on to the UK’s grouse moors (see here).
This assertion was made shortly before the publication of a devastating new scientific paper that demonstrated that 72% of satellite-tagged Hen Harriers were confirmed or considered likely to have been illegally killed, and this was ten times more likely to occur over areas of land managed for grouse shooting relative to other land uses (see here). A further scientific paper published in 2023 by scientists at the RSPB, utilising even more recent data, echoed these results – see here.
2018 was also the year that Natural England issued a licence to begin a Hen Harrier brood meddling trial on grouse moors in northern England. For new blog readers, Hen Harrier brood meddling was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England (NE), in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England.
For more background see here and for a critical evaluation of the trial after 5 years see this report by Wild Justice. In 2024 the brood meddling trial appeared to collapse for reasons which are not yet clear (see here) and the licence for the so-called ‘scientific trial’ expired. In March 2025 Natural England announced the end of the brood meddling trial (here) and in April 2025 announced that a licence application to continue brood meddling, submitted by the Moorland Association, had been refused (here).
Brood meddling was earlier described as a sort of ‘gentleman’s agreement’ by commentator Stephen Welch:
“I don’t get it, I thought the idea of that scheme was some kind of trade off – a gentleman’s agreement that the birds would be left in peace if they were moved from grouse moors at a certain density. It seems that one party is not keeping their side of the bargain“.
With at least 147 Hen Harriers gone since 2018, and 28 of those being brood meddled birds, there is no question that the grouse shooting industry was simply taking the piss. Meanwhile, Natural England pretended that ‘partnership working’ was the way to go and consecutive Tory DEFRA Ministers remained silent for all those years.
*n/a – no Hen Harriers were brood meddled in 2018. **There are a number of suspected Hen Harrier persecution incidents from 2025 not yet in the public domain & currently subject to ongoing police investigation. These are not included here.
‘Partnership working’ according to Natural England appeared to include authorising the removal of Hen Harrier chicks from a grouse moor already under investigation by the police for suspected raptor persecution (here) and accepting a £75k ‘donation’ from representatives of the grouse shooting industry with a contract clause that prevented Natural England from criticising them or the sham brood meddling trial (see here). This was in addition to a further £10k ‘donation’ that Natural England accepted, under the same terms, in 2021 (here).
Thankfully, the Scottish Government finally decided to act by introducing a grouse moor licensing scheme under the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. The intention behind this new legislation is that grouse shooting estates could have their licences suspended/revoked if, on the balance of probability, it is shown that any raptor persecution crimes (& some other associated offences) are linked with grouse moor management on that estate. There were, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it was significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). Efforts to close this loophole are included in the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament (here).
In England a new Hen Harrier Taskforce was established in 2024, led by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, to use innovative techniques to target Hen Harrier persecution hotspots (locations where Hen Harriers repeatedly ‘disappear’ or are found illegally killed). It’s too early to judge the Taskforce’s success/failure and it’s been met with considerable resistance from the Moorland Association, the grouse moor owners’ lobby group (e.g. see here). So far though, it’s quite clear that the the illegal killing continues.
So here’s the latest gruesome list of ‘missing’/illegally killed Hen Harriers since 2018. Note that the majority of these birds (but not all) were fitted with satellite tags. How many more [untagged] harriers have been killed? We now have evidence that gamekeepers are specifically targeting untagged Hen Harriers, precisely to avoid detection (see here for extraordinary footage/audio captured by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
2018
February 2018: Hen Harrier Saorsa ‘disappeared’ in the Angus Glens in Scotland (here). The Scottish Gamekeepers Association later published wholly inaccurate information claiming the bird had been re-sighted. The RSPB dismissed this as “completely false” (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 February 2018: Hen Harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9 February 2018: Hen Harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
March 2018: Hen Harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 April 2018: Hen Harrier Lia ‘disappeared’ in Wales and her corpse was retrieved in a field in May 2018. Cause of death was unconfirmed but police treating death as suspicious (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 August 2018: Hen Harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 August 2018: Hen Harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
3 September 2018: Hen Harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2018: Hen Harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2 October 2018: Hen Harrier Mabel (Tag ID 34342) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY851059. Tagged by NE.
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
23 October 2018: Hen Harrier Tom (Tag ID 161144) ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here). Grid ref SS906698. Tagged by NE.
26 October 2018: Hen Harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
1 November 2018: Hen Harrier Barney (Tag ID 34343) ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall (here). Grid ref SX140720. Tagged by NE.
10 November 2018: Hen Harrier Rannoch ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here). Her corpse was found nearby in May 2019 – she’d been killed in an illegally-set spring trap (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 November 2018: Hen Harrier River ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Nidderdale AONB (here). Her corpse was found nearby in April 2019 – she’d been illegally shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2019
16 January 2019: Hen Harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here). Tagged by RSPB.
28 January 2019: Hen Harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
7 February 2019: Hen Harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
22 April 2019: Hen Harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
26 April 2019: Hen Harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 May 2019: An untagged male Hen Harrier was caught in an illegally-set trap next to his nest on a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire. He didn’t survive (here).
7 June 2019: An untagged Hen Harrier was found dead on a grouse moor in Scotland. A post mortem stated the bird had died as a result of ‘penetrating trauma’ injuries and that this bird had previously been shot (here).
5 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 1 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor nr Dalnaspidal on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
11 September 2019: Hen Harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M2-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref SD920943. Tagged by NE.
23 September 2019: Hen Harrier R1-M4-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY952103. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by Wildlands.
24 September 2019: Hen Harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here). Tagged by RSPB.
10 October 2019: Hen Harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 October 2019: Hen Harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 October 2019: Member of the public reports the witnessed shooting of an untagged male Hen Harrier on White Syke Hill in North Yorkshire (here).
November 2019: Hen Harrier Mary found illegally poisoned on a pheasant shoot in Ireland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
November 2019: Hen Harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
December 2019: Hen Harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2019: Hen Harrier Erin tagged on Isle of Man ‘disappeared’ (Stop No Malfunction) – location unknown (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020
27 January 2020: Members of the public report the witnessed shooting of a male Hen Harrier on Threshfield Moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
5 April 2020: Hen Harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
8 April 2020: Hen Harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
19 May 2020: Hen Harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
21 May 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M1-19 (Brood meddled in 2019, Tag ID 183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here). Grid ref SD770877. Tagged by NE.
27 May 2020: Hen Harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male Hen Harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
14 August 2020: Hen Harrier Solo (Tag ID 201119) ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here). Tagged by NE.
7 September 2020: Hen Harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
16 September 2020: Hen Harrier Fortune (Tag ID 162150a) ‘disappeared’ from a confidential roost site in Northumberland (here). Tagged by NE.
19 September 2020: Hen Harrier Harold (Tag ID 57272) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY830036. Tagged by NE.
20 September 2020: Hen Harrier R1-M4-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE103956. Tagged by NE.
19 December 2020: Hen Harrier Lagertha (Tag ID 201126a) ‘disappeared’ in Christchurch, Dorset close to winter roost. Not to be confused with RSPB-tagged bird also called Lagertha (2023). Grid ref SZ161924. Tagged by NE.
2021
24 February 2021: Hen Harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
12th April 2021: Hen Harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here). Tagged by RSPB.
18 May 2021: Untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 1) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 2) ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen Harrier Asta (Tag ID 201117) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines after establishing a home range around Gilmonby Moor (here). We learned 18 months later that her wings had been ripped off so her tag could be fitted to a crow in an attempt to cover up her death (here). Grid ref SE206937. Tagged by NE.
14th August 2021: Hen Harrier Josephine (Tag ID 213850) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY592841. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2021: Hen Harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 September 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213918) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ022667. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2021: Hen Harrier R2-F1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203003) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY959039. Tagged by NE.
12 December 2021: Hen Harrier Jasmine (Tag ID 213848) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SE034733. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2021: Hen Harrier Maiden, tagged in Lancashire in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2022
9 January 2022: Hen Harrier Ethel (Tag ID 213852) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY936632. Tagged by NE.
10 February 2022: An unnamed satellite-tagged Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated area of the Peak District National Park (here). One year later it was revealed that the satellite tag/harness of this young male called ‘Anu’ had been deliberately cut off (see here). Tagged by RSPB.
12 April 2022: Hen Harrier Free (Tag ID 201121) ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Cumbria (here). It later emerged he hadn’t disappeared, but his mutilated corpse was found on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A post mortem revealed the cause of death was having his head twisted and pulled off. One (ringed) leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here). Tagged by NE.
April 2022: Hen Harrier Pegasus ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2022: An untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 1) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another untagged breeding male Hen Harrier (Peak District 2) ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
14 May 2022: Hen Harrier Harvey (Tag ID 213844) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY918019. Tagged by NE.
20 June 2022: Hen harrier chick #1 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #2 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #3 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 June 2022: Hen Harrier chick #4 stamped to death in nest on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
17 August 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 232637) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD804893. Tagged by NE.
September 2022: Hen Harrier Sullis ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here). Tagged by RSPB.
5 October 2022: Hen Harrier R3-M2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213920a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY791016. Tagged by NE.
10 October 2022: Hen Harrier Sia ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
October 2022: Hen Harrier R1-F1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213919) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here). Tagged by NE.
1 December 2022: Hen Harrier R1-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 55145a) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD917620. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55144) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB. Later found dead on 26 June 2023 with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY730372. Tagged by NE.
14 December 2022: Hen Harrier R3-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213921a) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead on 10 April 2023 with two shotgun pellets in corpse (here). Grid ref NY708423. Tagged by NE.
15 December 2022: Hen Harrier R2-F1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213931) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD847831. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Heath, tagged in Lancashire in 2019, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
Unknown date in 2022: Hen Harrier Syrcas, tagged in Conwy in 2021, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2023
30 March 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY823039) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY823039. Tagged by NE.
March 2023: Hen Harrier (tagged), last transmission/sighting in Lancashire. No tag number provided. Reported in RSPB Birdcrime 2023, Appendix 4 (here).
1 April 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID NY846027) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Grid ref NY846027. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Hen Harrier Lagertha ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Tagged by RSPB. Not to be confused with Lagertha tagged by NE & disappeared in 2020).
April 2023: Hen Harrier Nicola (Tag ID 234078) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here). Grid ref SD831860. Tagged by NE.
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 3) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male Hen Harrier (Geltsdale 4) ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Co Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Hen Harrier Rush ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here). Tagged by RSPB.
9/10 May 2023: Hen Harrier Dagda tagged in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘disappeared’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here). Tagged by RSPB.
17 May 2023: Hen Harrier Wayland ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here). Tagged by RSPB.
31 May 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M3-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213932) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY765687. Tagged by NE.
11 June 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-21 (Brood meddled in 2021, Tag ID 213922) ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY757000. Tagged by NE.
12 June 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M2-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 203004) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY976322. Tagged by NE.
6 July 2023: Hen Harrier Rubi (Tag ID 201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NY911151. Tagged by NE.
23 July 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55154a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where Rubi disappeared) (here). Grid ref NY910126. Tagged by NE.
9 August 2023: Hen Harrier Martha ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier Selena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
11 August 2023: Hen Harrier R3-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 201118a) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (here). Grid ref NZ072136. Tagged by NE.
15 August 2023: Hen Harrier Hepit ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 August 2023: Hen Harrier R1-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 55155a) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NY679863. Tagged by NE.
August-Sept 2023: Hen Harrier Harmonia ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). ‘Stop No Malfunction’. Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Saranyu, tagged in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
September 2023: Hen Harrier Inger, tagged in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
15 September 2023: Hen Harrier Rhys (Tag ID 213847a), tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD798896. Tagged by NE.
24 September 2023: Hen Harrier R2-F2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213929) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here). Grid ref NY888062. Tagged by NE.
26 September 2023: Hen Harrier Hope, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SD801926. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R1-M3-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55153) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham (here). Grid ref NY935192. Tagged by NE.
4 October 2023: Hen Harrier R4-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213925a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref SE003981. Tagged by NE.
15 November 2023: Hen Harrier Hazel’ (Tag ID 240292) tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man (here). Grid ref SC251803. Tagged by NE.
7 December 2023: Hen Harrier R2-M1-20 (Brood meddled in 2020, Tag ID 55146a) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham. Grid ref NY963211. Tagged by NE.
Unknown date in 2023: Hen Harrier Aurora, tagged in Dumfries & Galloway in 2022, ‘disappeared’ at unknown location (here). Tagged by RSPB.
2024
12 February 2024: Hen Harrier Susie (Tag ID 201122), found dead in Northumberland. Later revealed to have been the victim of shooting (here). Grid ref NY759585. Tagged by NE. Susie’s chicks were stamped to death at nest on moor at Whernside in 2022 (here).
15 February 2024: Hen Harrier Shalimar, tagged on the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in the notorious Angus Glens (here). Tagged by RSPB.
24 April 2024: Hen Harrier Ken (Tag ID 213849a) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland (here). Grid ref SD684601. Tagged by NE.
17 May 2024: Hen Harrier R2-M2-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213928) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale (here). Grid ref SE043754. Tagged by NE.
7 June 2024: Hen Harrier Edna (Tag ID 161143a). Decomposed corpse found next to a wind farm nr Otterburn, Northumberland. Listed as ‘suspected illegally killed’. There has been a suggestion she was killed elsewhere & dumped at the wind farm as a ploy to cover up the crime (here). Grid ref NY910827. Tagged by NE.
25 June 2024: Hen Harrier R2-F1-23 (Brood meddled in 2023, Tag ID 213923) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Grid ref NY985082. Tagged by NE.
July 2024: Hen Harrier Helius, tagged in Lancashire in 2023, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
29 July 2024: Hen Harrier (Tag ID 254843) tagged in Northumberland on 5 July 2024, decomposed corpse not suitable for post mortem but forensics work on her satellite tag showed shot damage (here). Grid ref NY824937. Tagged by NE.
October 2024: An un-tagged Hen Harrier was apparently shot on a grouse moor at Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen Harrier Dreich (Tag ID 254842) ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire (here). Grid ref NS826020. Tagged by NE.
15 October 2024: Hen Harrier Baldur (Tag ID 240291) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). Grid ref NZ038961. Tagged by NE.
19 October 2024: Hen Harrier Margaret (Tag ID 254844) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here). It was later reported that her tag had been found (‘removed’) but no sign of the carcass (here). Grid ref NY878497. Tagged by NE.
2025
15 January 2025: Hen Harrier Red, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2024, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in County Durham in the North Pennines, in the same area another tagged Hen Harrier (Sia) vanished in 2022 (here). Tagged by RSPB.
January 2025: Hen Harrier Ataksak was found poisoned close to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here). Apparently a police investigation is ongoing. Tagged by RSPB.
3 February 2025: Hen Harrier R3-F2-22 (Brood meddled in 2022, Tag ID 213924) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here). Grid ref SE759996. Tagged by NE.
27 February 2025: Hen Harrier Sita, tagged on behalf of Hen Harrier Action in Bowland in 2024 ‘disappeared’ from a roost site on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here). Tagged by RSPB.
4 April 2025: Hen Harrier Bonnie (Tag ID 254841) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Moorfoots, Scotland (here). Grid ref NT415575. Tagged by NE.
10 April 2025: Hen Harrier Gill (Tag ID 240294) ‘disappeared’ in south Scotland (here). Grid ref NT440344. Tagged by NE.
1 May 2025: Hen Harrier Pete (Tag ID 213843) ‘disappeared’ in Cumbria (see here). Grid ref NY309418. Tagged by NE.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 5) with an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Another untagged Hen Harrier male (Geltsdale 6) with another active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on nearby grouse moor (here).
May 2025: Hen Harrier Dynamo with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here). Tagged by RSPB.
May 2025: Untagged Hen Harrier with an active nest on United Utilities-owned land in Bowland, Lancashire, ‘disappeared’. Strongly suspected to have been shot whilst away hunting on a nearby grouse moor (here).
9 September 2025: Hen Harrier Maria (Tag ID 281718) tagged in Northumberland on 25 July 2025, ‘disappeared’ near Belford in Northumberland. Grid ref NU125340. Tagged by NE.
17 September 2025: Hen Harrier Beatrix, who fledged from the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ from an area dominated by grouse moors near Allendale in the North Pennines (here). Tagged by RSPB.
27 September 2025: Hen Harrier Wadrew, who fledged from the RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria in summer 2025, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor near Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (see here). Tagged by the RSPB.
30 September 2025: Hen Harrier Morrigan ‘disappeared’ in the southern area of the North Pennines National Landscape (here). Tagged by RSPB.
14 October 2025: Hen Harrier Circe, hatched on the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve in 2025 and tagged on behalf of charity Hen Harrier Action, ‘disappeared’ in the Moorfoots, south Scotland (here). Tagged by RSPB.
I’m aware of other tagged birds that went missing in 2025 and are not yet listed here as the incidents haven’t been made public as they’re the subject of active police investigations.
To be continued…
Of these 147 incidents, only one has resulted in an arrest and a subsequent prosecution (ongoing – after a ‘not guilty plea’ a gamekeeper is due in court again in January 2026, see here).
I had thought that when we reached 30 dead/missing Hen Harriers then the authorities might pretend to be interested and at least say a few words about this national scandal. We’ve now reached at least ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN Hen Harriers, and still Govt ministers remain silent on the illegal persecution issue. They appear not to give a monkey’s. And yes, there are other things going on in the world, as always. That is not reason enough to ignore this blatant, brazen and systematic destruction of a supposedly protected species, being undertaken to satisfy the greed and bloodlust of a minority of society.
And let’s not forget the response from the (now former) Moorland Association Chair (and owner of Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire) Mark Cunliffe-Lister, who told BBC Radio 4 in August 2023 that, “Clearly any illegal [Hen Harrier] persecution is nothappening” (here), in the year when a record 32 Hen Harriers had been confirmed ‘missing’ and/or illegally killed.
Nor should we forget the response from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Director of Policy Dr Alistair Leake who wrote a letter to the Guardian newspaper in November 2023 stating that the Hen Harrier brood management [meddling] scheme “is surely a shining example of human / wildlife conflict resolution that would be the envy of other countries trying to find similar solutions“ (I kid you not – here).
Detective Inspector Mark Harrison of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) who leads on the national Hen Harrier Taskforce will be giving a live online presentation on 27 January 2026 about the work being undertaken to tackle the ongoing illegal killing of Hen Harriers in the UK. More details here.
For new blog readers, an RSPB report Hen Harriers in the Firing Line, published last year provides a good overview of the illegal persecution of Hen Harriers on UK grouse moors, as does this news reel from Channel 4 News:
On Monday this week, former gamekeeper Thomas Munday appeared at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court where he was convicted of killing a Buzzard in March 2024 on land owned by the Hovingham Estate in North Yorkshire and was fined £1,215 (see RSPB press release here).
The case drew wide media attention, not least because it centered on disturbing footage captured on an RSPB covert camera showing Munday brutally beating to death the Buzzard that had been captured inside a Crow cage trap. The violence was appalling, and according to a piece on ITV news, even Munday’s solicitor told the court that his client had done “an incredibly cruel thing, it wasadisgusting aberration“.
Thomas Munday (on the left) leaving court with his solicitor (screengrab from ITV News footage)
I said I’d return to this case to provide some commentary. I’m interested in three different aspects of the case: the charge against Munday, the sentence he received, and the location of the crime.
THE CHARGE
Munday was charged with intentionally killing a protected wild bird, a Buzzard. That’s an obvious offence and was clearly evidenced by the RSPB’s video footage. Munday pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.
But to my mind there were other charges that could have been brought against Munday. For example, using a cage trap to kill or take a protected wild bird, possession of an article (the stick) capable of being used to commit an offence, and perhaps even going equipped (the ATV) to commit an offence.
However, the main additional charge I would have expected to see, based on the video footage, was that of causing unnecessary suffering to the Buzzard (Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006).
It’s beyond doubt, to me, (and apparently to Munday’s solicitor – see above) that that Buzzard suffered unnecessarily due to the two bouts of inhumane and cruel beating caused by Munday.
The courts are expected to treat animal cruelty seriously, as evidenced by the guidelines provided by the Sentencing Council – see here.
If you follow the step-by-step process outlined by the Sentencing Council, Munday’s actions could be determined as being of either High Culpability or Medium Culpability, and the harm caused (death) falls under Category 1 (the most serious level of harm caused).
Sentencing guidelines for offences determined to be High Culpability Category 1 start at two years’ custody. For Medium Culpability Category 1 offences, the starting point is 26 weeks’ custody.
I wonder why the CPS chose not to bring any charges other than that of intentionally killing a protected wild bird (the Buzzard)? Or maybe the CPS did bring other charges and there was a plea bargain? Along the lines of, ‘My client will plead guilty if the other charges are dropped’? That’s a common and legitimate feature of many criminal prosecutions but if that did happen in this case, why did the CPS accept? Was it a case of getting a quick and easy conviction in the bag and let’s move on to the next case?
This is all conjecture, of course, and until there’s better (any!) transparency about charging decisions then we’ll never know.
THE SENTENCE
Munday was fined a total of £1,215 for killing the Buzzard. This amount was broken down as follows:
£807 – fine
£323 – surcharge
£85 – costs
Some people, and I’m one of them, will consider that this level of fine does not reflect the seriousness of the offence and is at the lower end scale available to the courts. As the RSPB stated in its press release after Munday’s conviction, ‘This penalty provides little deterrent to others who may consider committing similar crimes and fails to reflect the casual and callous acts of cruelty involved‘.
I’ve seen some argue that the other consequences Munday faced (i.e. losing his firearms and shotgun certificates, losing his job, losing his home), in addition to the fine, is sufficient penalty for him. I disagree. Losing a job and home is no different to someone being made redundant, through no fault of their own, and having to relocate to find work.
According to media reports, Munday has re-trained (now a tree surgeon, apparently, so need for firearms/shotgun certs), is employed and has moved away from the house he was renting. Paying off a £1,215 fine shouldn’t be too much of a burden to him.
In addition, this case utilised forensic expertise (including examination of the bloodied stick to identify Buzzard DNA, and swabs taken from the vehicle in to which the bludgeoned Buzzard had been thrown). This work was conducted by the Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit at SASA in Scotland, paid for by the Forensic Analysis Fund (to which organisations like Wild Justice, Northern England Raptor Forum, Tayside & Fife Raptor Study Group, Devon Birds, Rare Bird Alert and many individual donors, including this blog’s readers, have contributed – see here).
One of the conditions of using the Forensic Fund for raptor persecution cases is that if the case progresses to court and costs are recoverable, an application must be made to the court to recover those costs, and any amounts recovered must be reimbursed back into the Forensic Fund to be used for other cases.
In this case, an application was made to the court to recover the costs of the forensics work but the magistrates said that a reimbursement wasn’t possible because the forensics work ‘wasn’t necessary’ to the case.
To explain – Munday committed his offence in March 2024. The RSPB passed on the video evidence to North Yorkshire Police who executed a search warrant (date unknown) at an address and retrieved several items for forensic examination. However, Munday wasn’t interviewed at that time (for reasons best known to North Yorkshire Police).
Munday was only interviewed by North Yorkshire Police in December 2025, some 21 months after the crime was committed. Had he been interviewed in 2024, Munday’s solicitor told the court that his client would have held up his hands and pleaded guilty. Hence, in the magistrates’ opinion, the forensics work wouldn’t have been needed.
THE LOCATION OF THE CRIME
If you’ve read a lot of the media reports about this case, including the RSPB’s press release and North Yorkshire Police’s press release, you might have noticed that the name of the estate where this crime took place has not been reported. It’s invariably been described as ‘near Hovingham’ and ‘near Malton’ – even the CPS charge apparently described the location as being ‘near Ripon’, which is unusual as typically the exact location is included in the charge. The exception was an article on the BBC’s website, which stated, ‘Thomas Munday was filmed killing the buzzard on land which is part of the Hovingham Estate, in North Yorkshire, in March 2024‘.
The court was told that Munday was employed by a ‘management company’ (un-named) who leased the land on an estate for a Pheasant shooting syndicate. According to an observer in court, Munday’s solicitor ‘spent a long time’ telling the court that the estate had nothing to do with the Pheasant shoot, and that as soon as the estate found out about the Buzzard being killed, it terminated the lease. Apparently he went as far as to say he hoped the press would report this sensitively. That’s bizarre – it’s almost as though the solicitor was acting for the estate.
I was intrigued by this apparent reluctance to name the estate and did some digging.
Hovingham Estate (also known as Hovingham Hall) has been in the ownership of the Worsley family for over 450 years. Sir William Worsley (6th Baronet) apparently resides there with his family. He’s big into forestry and conservation, according to Wikipedia, being the former Chairman of the National Forest Company, the former Government’s National Tree Champion, and is the current Chair of the Forestry Commission.
The estate has won awards for its woodland management, including winning a silver award in the 2023 Bede Howell Award for Excellence in Silviculture (the year before the Buzzard was beaten to death in the woods). The judges commented:
“We were impressed by the co-ordination achieved between the several estate departments. For example, the woodlands present an attractive landscape of high amenity and biodiversity character. They also host an important pheasant shoot by paying especially close attention to the character of woodland edges. The result is a profitable woodland enterprise containing excellent stands of timber. this integrates effectively with sporting and other estate priorities“.
I can see why a man of this standing would want to distance the estate from the disgusting and barbaric crime committed by gamekeeper Thomas Munday, and the estate deserves full credit for immediately terminating the shooting lease. I wish more landowners would follow this example and act so quickly and decisively when dealing with sporting agents.
But that Bede Howell awards committee statement about Hovingham Estate made me pause for thought. “They also host an important pheasant shoot….” (emphasis is mine).
If you look on the Hovingham Hall website, it includes a statement about what goes on at the estate:
It says the estate includes ‘a shoot’, which suggests to me that the estate may be more involved in Pheasant shooting than simply renting the land to a tenant sporting agent.
However, when I looked around the rest of the website, I couldn’t see any further mention of ‘a shoot’, until I looked at the estate’s privacy policy (dated 2024).
This privacy policy lays out how the estate handles its responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and how personal information is used. There’s an interesting entry under the header ‘Shoot’, which suggests the estate is involved in the administration of the ‘shoot syndicate and Let Days’.
Hmm.
I decided to phone the estate and ask them about their involvement in Pheasant shooting and whether they still had a Pheasant shoot after terminating the shoot lease in 2024.
I spoke to a nice lady in the main office who gave me a prepared statement, as follows:
“Hovingham Estate is aware of an incident involving one of our tenant’s employees. We take a zero tolerance approach to issues of this kind and therefore we took immediate action to terminate the tenant’s lease. We must emphasise that none of our employees are involved in any way“.
That’s pretty clear, but didn’t answer my questions. I asked the questions again and the nice lady told me:
“I’m sorry, I’m not at liberty to comment“.
To be absolutely clear, there is no evidence to suggest that Hovingham Estate knew about the criminal activity of gamekeeper Thomas Munday, and when it did become aware, it acted responsibly and terminated the lease.
If this estate is still hosting Pheasant (or Partridge) shooting, whether leased to another tenant or managed by the estate, I hope that lessons have been learned and close attention is paid to what might be going on in those award-winning woodlands.
Kudos again to the RSPB’s Investigations Team for securing the evidence that led to this conviction.
Further to last week’s blog about a gamekeeper being due to appear in court charged with killing a Buzzard on a Pheasant shoot at Hovingham, North Yorkshire (here), the case was heard today at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court and Thomas Munday pleaded guilty.
In March 2024, secret RSPB filming caught gamekeeper Thomas Munday brutally killing a protected Buzzard whilst it was caught in a cage trap on a pheasant shoot near Hovingham, North Yorkshire.
Today, at Scarborough Magistrates Court, Munday pleaded guilty to killing a Buzzard and was fined £1,215.
Although cage traps can be legally operated under government licences, they have a history of being repeatedly used in unlawful ways to catch and kill birds of prey on land managed for gamebird shooting. These incidents are generally related to attempts by the operator to remove any potential threat to gamebird stocks, reared for commercial shooting.
The RSPB is urging the UK Government to introduce a licensing scheme for all gamebird shooting to deter bird of prey persecution and to promote better practices.
On 30 March 2024, a covertly deployed RSPB camera caught a gamekeeper brutally beating a protected Buzzard to death inside a cage trap set in woodland near Hovingham, North Yorkshire.
Screengrab from the RSPB’s covert footage showing gamekeeper Thomas Munday clubbing the Buzzard to death, having already bludgeoned it inside the crow cage trap. The casual level of brutality and the suffering he caused is very disturbing.
The footage shows a Buzzard entering the crow cage trap. Four hours later, a masked and hooded individual arrives at the trap in an all-terrain vehicle. He enters the trap and is seen repeatedly striking the Buzzard with a stick. The injured and incapacitated Buzzard is then removed from the trap – clearly still alive – and beaten several more times with the same stick. The individual then picks up the bird by its wing and throws it into the vehicle before driving away from the site.
The RSPB shared the footage with North Yorkshire Police, who later identified the individual in the footage as Thomas Munday – employed as a gamekeeper.
Of all individuals convicted of bird of prey persecution-related offences between 2009 to 2023, 75% were connected to the gamebird shooting industry and 68% were gamekeepers.
A police-led search of the land, assisted by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), resulted in a number of items being seized including the stick used to kill the Buzzard. Forensic testing by the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency (SASA) funded by the Partnership against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Forensic Analysis Fund found traces of Buzzard DNA on the stick. Munday was subsequently charged with the illegal killing of the Buzzard, an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
On 12 January 2026, at Scarborough Magistrates Court, Thomas Munday pleaded guilty to killing a Buzzard and was fined £1,215.
Crow cage traps can be legally used under Government General Licence, issued by Natural England, to control corvid species such as Carrion Crows or Magpies, on condition that licence conditions are adhered to. Under these conditions, if a bird of prey or any other non-target species is caught in the trap, on discovery the bird must be released at point of capture without undue delay.
Sadly, this method of targeted killing of birds of prey is a persistent problem in the UK particularly on land managed for gamebird shooting. In a period of ten-years (2015-2024), 30 confirmed incidents of birds of prey being caught and/or dying in unlawful crow cage traps were recorded in the UK. 97% of these incidents were associated with land managed for gamebird shooting. 34 birds of prey were involved in these crimes with Buzzards, Goshawks and Sparrowhawks the most common victims associated with these crimes.
Howard Jones, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer: “The casual and brutal killing of the Buzzard is extremely upsetting to watch and it’s clear that Munday has a complete disregard for the law, and the legislation that protects these birds. Frustratingly, this incident isn’t a one off but is just the latest example of the cruel and disturbing lengths some individuals will go to in order to illegally kill birds of prey.
“These crimes and the wider issue of bird of prey persecution is significantly linked to the gamebird shooting industry. Without long overdue regulation of gamebird shooting we expect to see these crimes continue.”
James Robinson, RSPB Chief Operating Officer said: “Although we welcome Defra’s recent announcement of a review of corvid traps, this latest incident underlines a far wider and deeply entrenched issue for our protected birds of prey.
“For decades, these species have been illegally killed on land managed for pheasant, partridge and grouse shooting. More than half of all 1,529 confirmed persecution incidents recorded from 2009-2023 were linked to gamebird shooting. These crimes will continue without meaningful legislative change.
“Through the introduction of a robust licensing system for all gamebird shooting across the UK, the illegal killing of birds of prey could be effectively deterred. Scotland took this welcome step in 2024 when it introduced licensing for grouse shooting. We need the Government to take action, now.”
Though we welcome the guilty verdict in today’s case, we are disappointed that the sentence imposed is at the lower end of the provisions available to the court. This penalty provides little deterrent to others who may consider committing similar crimes and fails to reflect the casual and callous acts of cruelty involved.
The RSPB thanks the North Yorkshire Police, the NWCU and the Crown Prosecution Service for their vital role in investigating and prosecuting this case.
Members of the public are urged to report any suspected incidents of bird of prey persecution by contacting the police on 101 and by submitting a report to the RSPB.
This can be done via the RSPB’s online reporting form at www.rspb.org.uk/report-crimes or by calling the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101. Reports via the RSPB’s reporting form and Raptor Crime Hotline can be made anonymously.
ENDS
The RSPB covert footage can be viewed here, but BE WARNED, it includes animal cruelty, suffering and death.
My commentary:
I’ll keep this brief because I’m short of time today but I’ll be returning to this particular case later in the week as there are several important points that were not covered in the RSPB’s press release.
For now, the RSPB deserves huge credit for capturing this horrific crime on camera and ultimately securing a conviction. It’s interesting that the defence did not challenge the admissibility of the RSPB’s video footage and the court accepted it without question.
More soon…
UPDATE 16 January 2026: Commentary on the conviction of gamekeeper Thomas Munday (bludgeoned Buzzard to death on Hovingham Estate, North Yorkshire) here
Three days before Xmas, DEFRA published its Animal Welfare Strategy for England, laying out the Westminster Government’s priorities and a framework for the changes it seeks to achieve by 2030.
The policy paper is wide-ranging and covers farmed livestock, companion animals and wildlife.
Two Labour manifesto pledges are included – “We will ban trail hunting and snares“, and it’s encouraging to read, “We will also conduct a review of the use of other wildlife traps“.
The strategy document can be downloaded / read here:
The key ‘actions’, of interest to me, are as follows:
We will put an end to trail hunting and consult in early 2026 on how to deliver a ban on trail hunting.
We will deliver on the manifesto commitment to ban the use of snare traps in England.
We will conduct a review of other traps used to catch wildlife in England for which welfare concerns have been raised and carefully consider any recommendations for further action. (E.g. Older spring traps, mole traps and live capture traps used to catch corvids).
We will consider how to bring forward and introduce a close season for hares.
We will review and look to strengthen penalties for cruelty against wildlife so that they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for animal welfare offences against pets and livestock.
We will improve our understanding of the welfare issues on how gamebirds are reared in the gamebird sector through issuing a call for evidence.
Whilst a timeframe for the consultation on how to implement a ban on trail hunting has been given as ‘early 2026’ (good!), no timeline has been given on when the ban on snares will be implemented.
Given the indiscriminate level of cruelty and suffering caused by snares, this ban really needs to enacted without delay. Snares have already been banned in Wales (since October 2023) and Scotland (since November 2024).
YouGov polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports last year showed 71% support for a snare ban in England (the figure rose to 80% among people living in rural areas) – see here.
Last month, in response to DEFRA’s animal welfare strategy, the independent and authoritative Wild Animal Welfare Committee (WAWC) published an excellent position paper on snares – well worth a read:
I’m especially pleased to see in the animal welfare strategy for England that a review on other wildlife traps will take place (although again, no timescale is given for this), and particularly pleased to see that it includes crow cage traps.
The use and mis-use of these traps have featured heavily on the pages of this blog over the years, especially on gamebird shooting estates. Apart from the appallingly low welfare standards they afford to both decoy and trapped birds, they are also frequently used to facilitate the illegal killing of birds of prey.
This Buzzard was caught in a crow cage trap on a grouse-shooting estate in Scotland. Instead of being released, in the dead of night ‘somebody’ arrived on a quad bike, entered the padlocked trap, appeared to strike at something on the ground, removed something from the trap, and then drove off. As the cameras continued to roll, at dawn it became apparent that the Buzzard was no longer in the trap. [Screengrab from video footage on an RSPB covert camera)
Sometimes the use of these traps for illegal persecution is targeted (i.e. by using decoys specifically to attract raptors, e.g. pigeons and doves) but it can also be non-targeted. When a raptor is caught, accidentally, inside one of these traps, by law the trap operator should release the bird, unharmed, at the earliest possible time. However, repeated evidence, usually provided by RSPB covert cameras, has shown gamekeepers taking the opportunity to kill the trapped raptor, typically by bludgeoning it to death with a big stick there and then, or in recent years, the trapped raptor has been bagged up and carried away from the location, presumably to be killed without the risk of it being filmed.
Any proposal to improve animal welfare standards is to be welcomed and I applaud the Westminster Government for acknowledging that measures are needed across the board.
There’s clearly a lot of work to do and we are fortunate to have some excellent animal welfare charities and organisations in the UK whose input will be crucial to ensure this strategy is implemented as comprehensively, robustly and quickly as possible.
Following the appalling news over the last couple of days about the highly suspicious, and almost certainly criminal, disappearance of three satellite-tagged White-tailed Eagles here, here and here, there has, as usual, been complete silence from the land management sector, with the exception of Scottish Land & Estates, who commented that, “land managers in Moorfoots have been helping police with the search and will continue to provide whatever help they can as the investigation progresses“.
As for the other shooting organisations, who so often claim to have a zero tolerance stance against raptor persecution, there’s been no comment and no condemnation. Nix. Nada.
As a reminder, all of those organisations (except the Moorland Association, whose CEO was booted off for spreading misinformation) are members of the police-led Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) – a so-called ‘partnership’ whose function includes ‘awareness raising‘ and ‘raising the profile [of illegal raptor persecution] via media exposure‘. Not a single word.
In contrast, the often very reserved RSPB has not only expressed its disgust, but it has put its money where its mouth is and is offering a reward of £10,000 for information leading to a conviction of those involved. This is welcome news for all of us who have not only enjoyed seeing these birds occupying their rightful place in UK skies, but also for those of us who are sick to the back teeth of the relentless killing of protected birds of prey across our countryside.
Juvenile White-tailed Eagle, photo by Pete Walkden
However, it turns out that it hasn’t just been the three White-tailed Eagles from the England re-introduction project that have disappeared in recent months. The bottom of the RSPB article, linked above, reveals some new information:
‘Further to the suspicious disappearance of these three White-tailed Eagles, a fourth bird, fledged from a nest in Perthshire in 2024, disappeared on a grouse moor in Nairnshire in May this year. A police search took place but neither bird nor tag were found.
This was the latest of nine tagged birds of prey, including two other White-tailed Eagles, whose tags were functioning as expected, to suddenly disappear in the northern Monadhlaith area of Inverness-shire and Nairnshire since 2018. These disappearances have occurred in an area where multiple confirmed incidents of poisoning, shooting and illegal trap use have been recorded’.
FFS.
I can’t see why it’s taken seven months for this news to emerge, but it doesn’t make it any less appalling.
As the RSPB article suggests, this area of Inverness-shire and Nairnshire is horrific for bird of prey killings and for the suspicious disappearances of tagged raptors.
This latest White-tailed Eagle to vanish is the third in the area since 2019 (e.g. see here), adding to a long history of tagged Golden Eagle disappearances here dating back 15 years (and leading to the Scottish Government commissioning its review of the fates of satellite-tagged Golden Eagles back in 2016).
Numerous other incidents have been uncovered in this same area in recent years, close to the NW boundary of the Cairngorms National Park. These have included the shooting of a Sparrowhawk on Moy Estate (for which a gamekeeper was later convicted, here), the discovery of a poisoned Red Kite in the Moy area, here, and the discovery of a shot Red Kite on Lochindorb Estate, here.
Needless to say, the vast majority of those incidents, including the disappearance of the White-tailed Eagle in May, were on grouse moors.
Perhaps the local wildlife criminals were emboldened by NatureScot’s watering-down of the new grouse shoot licence last autumn?
At least that issue appears to have been sorted by a Government amendment to close the loophole, which recently passed Stage 2 of the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill…but I’ll write about that in another blog.
For now, we have four missing White-tailed Eagles (all vanishing from areas managed for gamebird shooting, whether that be lowland Pheasant & Partridge shooting or upland Grouse shooting), two missing Golden Eagles (also vanishing from areas managed for gamebird shooting), and I’ve lost count of the number of missing Hen Harriers, also vanishing from areas managed for gamebird shooting.
I’ll be updating the Hen Harrier Missing/Dead List over the Xmas period when I’ll have some time…there are still some more to add to the 143 Hen Harriers we already know about.
Following on from this morning’s blog about the start of a two-day trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court today for two gamekeepers accused of alleged offences relating to the illegal killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park earlier this year (here), it barely got going before being adjourned until next year.
The Sheriff made a declaration of being a monthly subscriber to the RSPB, which resulted in the two defence KCs (King’s Counsel) lodging a motion that the Sheriff should consider recusing himself because the ‘public might perceive some bias’.
After giving the motion some consideration, the Sheriff agreed to stand down because this case involves RSPB staff members as witnesses for the prosecution.
Unfortunately, no other Sheriff was available immediately to hear the case, so it has been adjourned.
We’ve seen this before, in the trial against another Aberdeenshire gamekeeper back in 2012, where the presiding Sheriff was a member of the RSPB and the defence counsel suggested she should stand down, which she did (see here).
It’s frustrating, and a colossally inefficient use of public money, (and presumably adds extra cost for the defence – KCs don’t come cheap) but inefficiency seems to be a hallmark of the judiciary and it is what it is.
The important issue is that the case is decided on the strength of the evidence, not the perceived bias of a presiding Sheriff.
The case will return to the court in April 2026, this time listed as a four-day trial.
NB: Comments are turned off as legal proceedings are still live.
UPDATE 27 April 2026: Four-day trial starts for two Scottish gamekeepers in relation to alleged killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
UPDATE 18 June 2026: More detail on trial of two Scottish gamekeepers charged with alleged shooting of Red Kites in Cairngorms National Park (here)
A trial is underway today at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where two gamekeepers are accused of alleged offences in relation to the illegal killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park earlier this year.
Red Kite. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert
A Head gamekeeper and an assistant gamekeeper were charged in May 2025 ‘in connection with wildlife offences following enquiries into the death of red kites in the Strathdon area of Aberdeenshire in February, 2025′ (see here).
This is believed to be related to the discovery of a shot Red Kite in the Glenbuchat area of Strathdon between 3rd and 4th February 2025 (see here).
The trial has been scheduled for two days.
NB: Comments turned off as legal proceedings are live.
UPDATE 18.20hrs: Alleged killing of Red Kites in Cairngorms National Park – trial of two gamekeepers adjourned as Sheriff recuses himself due to RSPB membership (here)
There was a virtual pre-trial hearing at Glasgow High Court yesterday in the case against David Campbell, the former Head Gamekeeper of Edradynate Estate in Perthshire, who is accused of murdering a former colleague, Brian Low, whilst Mr Low was walking his dog on Leafy Lane, near the Pitilie Track close to Aberfeldy in February 2024 (see here for background).
The pre-trial hearing, before Lord Cubie, heard that one of the prosecution witnesses, Michael Campbell (no relation, and believed to be the owner of Edradynate Estate) has since died, but the case continues.
Both the accused and victim were formerly employed on Edradynate Estate, Perthshire. Photo by Ruth Tingay
David Campbell, now 76, is alleged to have discharged a shotgun at 65-year-old retired groundsman Brian Low, leaving him so severely hurt he died at the scene. It is alleged that Campbell did this after disabling CCTV cameras at Tigh Na Caorann, Crieff Road, Aberfeldy, in an “attempt to conceal” his whereabouts.
Campbell faces a separate charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice following Mr Low’s alleged murder. It is alleged between 16 February and 24 May 2024 he disposed of an Walther RM8 Rotex airgun – for which he allegedly did not have a certificate – at an unknown location.
He is further said to have got rid of the shotgun and a gun bag, also at a spot unknown to prosecutors.
Campbell is also accused of going to Crighton’s Cycles, Blairgowrie, and having two replacement tyres fitted on an electric bicycle, which prosecutors believe was used by him in the commission of the murder.
It is also alleged that Campbell disposed of a box, cartridge bag and bicycle tyres at Aberfeldy Recycling Centre.
Campbell further faces five breach of the peace allegations dating back to the mid-90s.
It is alleged some time in July 1995, he threatened a man called Alan Stewart and placed him in a state of fear and alarm.
Prosecutors further allege that on a date between 1 March and 31 May 1997, Campbell conducted himself in a disorderly manner at the Edradynate Estate, Aberfeldy and threatened to shoot worker Gregor Forrest.
Campbell has also been accused of threatening to shoot another man, Richard Wright, also at Edradynate Estate between 1 June and 31 August 1999.
It is further alleged that between 1 June and 30 September 2011, Campbell threatened to shoot a fourth man, Maksymillan Konchanski, at The Square, Aberfeldy.
And he is also accused of threatening to shoot a woman’s dog at Ardlach House, Aberfeldy, sometime between 1 June and 30 September 2012.
Campbell has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges and his defence advocate, Tony Lenehan KC, has lodged a special defence of alibi in connection with the murder charge.
Campbell remains on remand and his trial date has been set to begin on 2 February 2026 at Glasgow High Court before judge Lord Scott and is expected to last for three weeks.
PLEASE NOTE: As this case is live, comments are turned off until proceedings conclude.
Raptor Persecution UK 