Surprise surprise! The Moy Estate case has been adjourned for a second time. Gamekeepers Wayne Grant and James Roderick Rolfe, facing charges under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, did not attend the court hearing yesterday at Inverness Sheriff Court, and no plea was entered. Their case has been adjourned until 5 May 2011, again at Inverness Sheriff Court.
For background reading to this case, see blog posts 3 June 2010, 4 June 2010 and 23 March 2011.
Police have raided a well-known sporting estate in Scotland and at least one man has been questioned at the police station. Further details cannot be reported just now but will be publicised in due course. Let’s just say this estate is no stranger to allegations of raptor persecution…let’s hope justice is finally served.
Full credit to the police for this one.
Further to blog posts 25 January, 11 February and 2 March 2011….
Nicholas Parker, head gamekeeper at Holkham Estate, Norfolk, was due at Norwich Magistrate’s Court today relating to charges against him for alleged wildlife crime and firearms offences. His case has been adjourned for the third time and is now due to be heard on 4 May 2011.
This case was originally due to be heard at King’s Lynn Magistrate’s Court on 9 February 2011. This was delayed until 2 March 2011. The case was then moved to Norwich Magistrate’s Court, due to be heard 1 April 2011.
Following our blog posts on 3 June 2010 and 4 June 2010…….
According to an article published in the Press & Journal last week, two men will appear at Inverness Sheriff Court next month to face charges following the police raid on Moy Estate last June.
Gamekeepers James Rolfe (now 20), of The Gate Lodge, Moy, and Wayne Grant (now 32), of Limetree Cottage, Moy, are charged with offences under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981. Rolfe is accused of possessing a dead red kite at the Gate Lodge, Moy, on June 3 2010, while Grant is charged with having 56 black-headed gull eggs in an out-building at his home on the same date.
The case was called at Inverness Sheriff Court last week but neither defendant was at the hearing. Fiscal depute Karen Smith said that lawyers for the two men had asked for the case to be continued without plea. The case was adjourned until 7 April 2011.
Thank you to the contributor who sent us a copy of this newspaper article. We have been unable to find an on-line link.
The case against a gamekeeper accused of wildlife crime offences began at Inverness Sheriff Court last week. Andrew Slaughter, 34, of Faddock, Killialan, Kyle, faces two charges under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 in connection with setting a spring trap at Glen Elchaig on Inverinate Estate on 22 September 2010.
He also faces a charge under the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 that he failed to ensure that a crow which was caught in a trap was “provided with adequate shelter and protection from adverse weather”. A fourth charge states that he “set a spring trap which was capable of catching birds, pine martins, badgers and otters”, contrary to the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948.
Slaughter, who did not appear in court, had his case continued without plea until 7 April 2011.
Thank you to the contributor who sent us a copy of the newspaper report about this article (published in Press & Journal, 18 March 2011). We could not find an on-line link to this article.
Inverinate Estate, close to the Isle of Skye, is believed to be owned by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, crown prince and ruler of Dubai. He is thought to have bought the 63,000 acre estate for £2 million 25 years ago. The Sheikh, worth an estimated £12 billion, is believed to visit the estate with his family for a few weeks every year in the summer.
Former Holkham Estate Head Gamekeeper Nicholas Parker’s employers have advertised for a new head keeper in the 2 March edition of the Shooting Times.
Many thanks to the contributor who sent us this copy of the Shooting Times jobs page.
Further to blog posts on 25 January and 11 February….
Nicholas Parker, head gamekeeper on the Holkham Estate in Norfolk was due in court this morning to face a number of charges relating to alleged wildlife and firearms offences carried out on the Holkham Estate. His case was originally due to have been heard on 9 February 2011, which was then postponed until 2 March 2011.
Parker has pleaded not guilty to some of the charges, and, given the seriousness of these charges, his case has now been adjourned until 1 April 2011 as it has been moved to Norwich Magistrate’s Court where his case will be heard by a more senior District Judge.
Two men from Northumberland have been jailed after forcing animals to fight to the death and posting video footage of their barbaric activities on the internet. The crimes are reported to include two dogs attacking a badger, cock fighting, a snared fox having a stick rammed into its mouth and one of the men standing on the fox’s neck as it was attacked by a dog, and a fox trapped inside a cage with a dog, with someone holding the fox’s ears as the dog attacked it.
One of the men, 23-year-old Connor Patterson, of Whitfield, near Hexham Northumberland, is reported to be a farm worker and an apprentice gamekeeper. During police interviews, he said he had a national diploma in countryside and game management, and while studying for this he had learned how to use snares and traps.
Congratulations to Northumbria Police and the RSPCA for bringing a successful prosecution. Let’s hope that when Patterson is released from his prison term he does not gain employment in the gamekeeping world.
Full details of this horrific story: http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/18/pair-forced-animals-to-fight-to-the-death-61634-28191448/2/
Mr Alasdair Laing, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Scottish committee chairman, has been questioned by police, according to The Scotsman, following the discovery of a dead sea eagle on his Logie Estate, Morayshire, which was joint winner of the Purdey Award for Shooting and Conservation in 2008.
The dead eagle (released in East Scotland in 2008 as one of the reintroduced birds from Norway) was apparently found by an employee of RSPB Scotland whilst walking in the snow on 15th December 2010. The dead bird was reported to Northern Constabulary the same day but when officers returned to investigate the incident the following morning the carcass had mysteriously disappeared.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident but say they are unable to determine how the bird died without a body. Gamekeepers at the Morayshire estate, as well as Mr Laing, are understood to have been spoken to by investigators. The head keeper has been previously described as ‘a prominent member of the SGA committee’ and has been praised for his conservation work (see here). Alasdair Laing was a signatory to the May 2010 SRPBA letter to the Environment Minister, one of over 200 landowners who condemned illegal raptor poisoning.
A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said “An investigation was launched by the area wildlife crime officer, but to date no remains have been recovered. There is also no evidence as to how the bird died, given the fact there was no body”
It seems strange that this incident happened on 15th Dec 2010 and this is the first media report about it. It seems to fly in the face of other investigation techniques where evidence is gathered as soon as possible whilst events are clear and fresh in potential witnesses minds.
Full story here – http://www.scotsman.com/environment/Conservation-chief-questioned-by-police.6720123.jp?articlepage=1
Alasdair Laing’s letter of response published in The Scotsman: http://news.scotsman.com/letters/Letter-Estate-work.6720703.jp
An interesting insight into how the Lochindorb Shoot (on Logie Estate) is managed, including the culling of mountain hares: http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/features/387120/The_Lochindorb_Shoot.html
Nicholas Parker, head gamekeeper on the Holkham Estate, Norfolk, was due to appear before King’s Lynn Magistrates on Wednesday 9 February 2011 to answer the following charges:
Parker’s case has been postponed and is now due to be heard on 2 March 2011. (See blog post 25 January 2011 for original story).
A convicted gamekeeper in Scotland (name removed for legal reasons) was due back in court on 2nd December 2010 to face charges of using poison to kill multiple buzzards on a sporting estate. This case was postponed due to bad weather and was re-scheduled for 23 December 2010. The second trial was postponed after the defendant lodged an appeal on a legal technicality. This appeal is still pending. We will post an update in due course. (See blog posts Dec 1 & 21 for original story).
HOT OFF THE PRESS – there will be a forthcoming trial in March/April concerning alleged raptor persecution incidents in Derbyshire. Watch this space!
Raptor Persecution UK 