The Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) is the representative body of voluntary raptor fieldworkers across the north of England, including in many of the raptor persecution hotspots in this region.
NERF is a well-respected organisation in conservation circles and has been at the forefront of the fight against the illegal killing of birds of prey, with its members often the first to raise the alarm to the police when suspected raptor persecution incidents have been uncovered.
NERF has also been involved in the many ‘partnership’ efforts over the last few decades that have tried, but failed, to tackle these pervasive crimes.
The group has standing, experience, and real skin in the game.
Steve Downing, NERF Chair, is a man who doesn’t mince his words. He’s written an open letter to Defra Ministers, including the newly-appointed Secretary of State for the Environment, Emma Reynolds, laying out previous Government failures to get on top of this issue and telling her that enough is enough, the time for talking is over.
If Steve’s letter resonates with you, it wouldn’t hurt for you to write to your own MP in support of NERF’s stance. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain. Politicians won’t act if they don’t know that illegal raptor persecution is an issue of concern amongst their constituents.
If you haven’t written to your MP before, why not give it a go? If you’re not sure who your MP is, you can find out here.
Following the recent collapse of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Bird of Prey Partnership (due to its failure to tackle crimes against birds of prey), and the news that since 2015, 29 Hen Harriers have gone ‘missing’ in suspicious circumstances and almost 40 other raptors have been found poisoned, trapped or shot in the Yorkshire Dales National Park since 2015, including Peregrines, Hen Harriers, Red Kites and Buzzards, there’s some welcome news from a local community who has had enough and has decided to do something about it. Bravo!
Friends of the Dales, the environmental campaigning charity, is launching a powerful new campaign − Eyes on the Skies − calling for an end to criminal killing of birds of prey in the Yorkshire Dales. The campaign kicks off with a high-profile live webinar on Tuesday 21 October at 5.30pm, featuring leading conservation expert Kate Jennings, UK Head of Site Conservation & Species Policy at the RSPB.
Kate will highlight the long history of bird crime in the Yorkshire Dales, drawing on evidence and case studies from the RSPB’s Investigations Team which works in support of the police and statutory agencies to bring criminals before the courts.
“We are delighted that Kate is joining us at the Eyes on the Skies launch event,” said Jonathan Riley, Chair of Trustees at Friends of the Dales. “She will shine a spotlight on Bird Crime in the Yorkshire Dales and the illegal and inhumane methods criminals use to trap, shoot and poison birds of prey − crimes that persist despite more than seventy years of legal protection.”
The Yorkshire Dales remains a blackspot for raptor persecution, with species such as hen harriers, short-eared owls, and red kites especially targeted. Just last week the RSPB issued a press release about the disappearance of Sita, a one-year-old female satellite-tagged Hen Harrier. The RSPB said that Sita is the 29th hen harrier “to suspiciously disappear in the national park since 2015” and that the bird “is likely to have been shot”.
“It is appalling that the hen harrier, one of the UK’s rarest birds, continues to be shot, trapped, and poisoned in our National Park, which should be a sanctuary for wildlife,” added Jonathan.
Public concern for these crimes is growing. In early 2024, more than 1,000 people responded to the first consultation on the new Management Plan for the Yorkshire Dales National Park, with ending the illegal persecution of birds of prey emerging as one of the top priorities.
David Butterworth, Chief Executive of the Authority also confirmed: “The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is unwavering in its commitment to raptor conservation. We will continue to collaborate with landowners, managers and organisations sharing our vision. We applaud those whose efforts have helped some species recover. But we must also confront the grim reality that criminal persecution still occurs.”
Friends of the Dales Eyes on the Skies campaign supports one of the core objectives of the new management plan for the Yorkshire Dales National Park, as well as the vital work of other organisations such as the National Wildlife Crime Unit, RSPB and Hen Harrier Action. The campaign will amplify messages around the scale and nature of these appalling crimes, educate people in how to spot and report any suspicious or illegal activity they might see and also inspire people to learn more about the birds themselves and why they are vital to a healthy, biodiverse ecosystem.
David Butterworth added: “The uplands of the Yorkshire Dales National Park should be a stronghold for a diverse range of raptor species. As apex predators, their presence signals a healthy environment. Their absence, conversely, is a warning.”
Summing up Jonathan Riley said: “Our Eyes on the Skies campaign will incorporate many more events including further webinars from insider experts, outdoor educational events and even some more creatively focussed activities. So, on behalf of the charity, I would encourage anyone who is interested in learning more to register for the free launch event on Tuesday 21 October at 5:30 pm, and sign up to our monthly email newsletter so they can be kept updated.”
Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Liaison Officer Constable Ann Ashman said:
“From enquiries carried out so far, we know this sparrowhawk has been poisoned with insecticide carbosulfan, resulting in a harrowing death.
“Sparrowhawks are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill or injure them.
“The use of carbosulfan is illegal, with the substance having been banned in the UK since 2008. This substance can cause death in humans, so its illegal use is extremely reckless.
“We are carrying out an investigation in relation to this incident and will be working with a range of partner organisations. The public has an important role to help up combat wildlife crime. If you see anything suspicious, please report it to us via 101, or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 1179 of 2 October, 2025.
Media attention has been drawn to the Yorkshire Dales National Park this week, following the RSPB’s press release on the suspicious disappearance of a satellite-tagged Hen Harrier named ‘Sita’.
When it comes to the illegal killing of birds of prey, the Yorkshire Dales National Park is rarely out of the news, and that’s hardly surprising when 29 satellite-tagged Hen Harriers have gone ‘missing’ there and 39 other raptors have been found poisoned, trapped or shot there since 2015, including Peregrines, Hen Harriers, Red Kites and Buzzards.
Yorkshire Dales National Park. Photo by Ruth Tingay
Given these appalling figures, the RSPB has described the Yorkshire Dales National Park as a ‘no-fly zone for birds of prey’.
High profile cases within the National Park have included the conviction of a gamekeeper who was filmed shooting two Short-eared Owls on a grouse moor and then stamping the corpse of one of them into the peat and shoving the other one inside a drystone wall (here); a gamekeeper filmed on a grouse moor using a tethered Eagle Owl to attract Buzzards that he then shot and killed from close range (here); the stamping to death of four Hen Harrier chicks in a nest on a grouse moor (after obscuring the camera pointing at the nest, here); the grisly death of a Hen Harrier caused by his head and leg being pulled off whilst he was still alive (here); and three individuals caught on camera on a grouse moor discussing the shooting and killing of a Buzzard and a Raven before apparently shooting and killing a Hen Harrier (here) – one gamekeeper has been charged with conspiracy to kill a Hen Harrier, he has pleaded not guilty and his case will proceed to trial in January 2026 after his barrister failed in his attempt to have the case thrown out on a legal technicality.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has also long recognised the extent of this criminal activity and has responded to public concern (e.g. see here and here). Earlier this year the Park Authority terminated its five-year ‘partnership’ with the grouse shooting industry to tackle these crimes, after recognising the futility of this endeavour. Two conservation organisations (the RSPB and the Northern England Raptor Forum) had already walked away from the sham in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
In an article published a couple of days ago by the Craven Herald & Pioneer, Mark Corner, a member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is quoted saying the continued illegal killing of raptors in the Park was “a crying shame“.
He added: “As the member champion for the natural environment, I’m personally embarrassed that we are the worst spot in the country in terms of the illegal killing of birds.”
In the same article, there’s an hilarious quote from the Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group, which is one of a number of regional groups set up in 2015 to represent local grouse moor owners and their gamekeepers in an attempt to counter the bad publicity about ongoing illegal raptor persecution. I think that members of most of these regional moorland groups have been, or still are, the subject of police investigations into illegal raptor persecution.
A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group reportedly told the reporter that ‘hen harrier numbers were at a 200-year high across the uplands’.
That’s simply not true – Hen Harrier breeding attempts on grouse moors across the north of England have been in sharp decline over the last two years – the only areas where they remain stable is on land managed for conservation rather than for Red Grouse shooting.
According to its FaceBook page, the Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group claims to have “around 100,000 acres of managed uplands here in the Dales where the estates are members of this group (virtually all of the moors)“.
Why is it then, there were only two Hen Harrier breeding attempts in 2025 across the whole of the Yorkshire Dales and neighbouring Nidderdale? I’d like the Moorland Group to provide a plausible explanation for these absences.
The Yorkshire Dales Moorland Group also told the Craven Herald reporter:
“Our keepers have and will always assist the police in searches for missing persons, lost dogs or missing birds. Tag failure is rare but not unheard of.
“The default accusation that persecution is responsible is regrettable. The conservation work undertaken by moor keepers is commendable as can be seen by the abundance of raptors and other rare species in the Dales“.
What “abundance of raptors” are those then? All the dead ones? Or just the ones that are allowed to breed because they don’t pose any threat to Red Grouse stocks?
And if these grouse shooting estates are so keen to help the police, how many of them signed the letter last year agreeing to allow the police to enter the land and use equipment for the purposes of crime prevention and detection? Did any of them sign it?
And if these gamekeepers are so keen to help police investigations, how many of them have given ‘no comment’ responses when interviewed about suspected raptor persecution crimes on these moors? Maybe it’d be quicker to count how many gamekeeper didn’t give a ‘no comment’ interview.
The article also quotes Alex Farrell, Head of Uplands at BASC:
“As a committed conservation organisation, we are taking progressive steps with our partners to oversee the continued recovery of hen harriers.
“Figures released by Natural England today show that collaborative effort resulted in 106 fledged hen harrier chicks in England this year – up from 80 last year“.
What “progressive steps” is BASC taking?
Oh, and those figures released by Natural England show that the small increase in Hen Harrier fledging rates are in spite of, not because of, any so-called ‘collaborative effort’ from the grouse shooting industry.
In November last year, conservation campaign group Wild Justice published a report (Collateral Damage) highlighting shockingly high levels of rodenticides (rat poisons) found in Buzzards and Red Kites and showed how the UK Government was ignoring the evidence (see press release here).
This led to a flurry of Parliamentary questions (see here) and promises for a review in 2025.
Since then, further reports show that the use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs), particularly Brodicfacoum, is causing widespread harm to wildlife including Foxes, Otters and Peregrines (see here).
A poisoned Red Kite. Photo by Dr Marc Ruddock
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) which controls the approval regime in the UK for rodenticides and decides what can and cannot be used, has announced a consultation on rodenticides. The consultation is looking at what alternatives to SGARs are available.
If the HSE is going to continue to approve SGARs for use, it needs to show that no other viable alternatives are available.
Apart from taking preventative measures, there ARE other viable alternatives, but the chemical companies aren’t keen for these to be promoted because SGARs are highly profitable financially, even though they’re disastrous for many species, especially raptors, from an ecological perspective.
The alternatives include:
Non-SGAR alternative rodenticides such as Cholecalciferol, with which the targeted rodent stops feeding once a lethal intake has been consumed (reducing risk of secondary poisoning of predators and scavengers).
Zinc Phosphide – a highly effective acute rodenticide.
DR8 – a product developed with the support of the New Zealand Government which is specific to rats and poses no apparent secondary poisoning risk.
Carbon Dioxide gas (also known as Rat Ice).
Contraceptive products such as ContraPest, which controls rat populations by restricting rodent reproduction.
The HSE’s public consultation is not especially user-friendly, and nor does it seem to have been widely promoted (apart from amongst the chemical companies who will no doubt be pushing for the HSE to retain its approval for SGARs and to ignore the alternatives).
However, Wild Justice has prepared some helpful guidance on how to complete the consultation and is encouraging as many members of the public as possible to take part – you’ll find the guidance here.
The deadline for completing this consultation is this coming Tuesday (30 September 2025) so we don’t have long.
Please, if you have some time today, have a go at completing the consultation and help put pressure on the HSE to remove, or at least limit, the use of SGARs.
The trial of an 87-year-old man, accused of multiple offences linked to alleged raptor persecution, has been put on hold after his defence lawyer told the court he intends to apply for Judicial Review of the judge’s ruling that the case should not be dropped.
Brian Chorlton, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire, was summoned to court in April 2025 following reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.
In May 2025, Chorlton appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court and pleaded not guilty to 11 charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoner’s kit, and possession and use of four pole traps. The trial was set to take place in October 2025.
However, on 18 September 2025 a case management hearing took place at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court where the defence submitted three separate legal arguments calling for the case to be dismissed. I won’t elaborate on those arguments at this stage but they are unusual, and are not related to the use of covert surveillance as is often the case.
The District Judge rejected all three legal arguments and the application to dismiss the case was rejected.
The District Judge said he intended for the trial to proceed in October but offered a further case management hearing, due to take place one week later, to allow the defence time to consider the ruling.
That second case management trial took place at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday (25 September 2025) and the defence announced its intention to apply to the High Court for Judicial Review of the judge’s earlier ruling.
This means the original trial date (October 2025) has now been vacated. There will be a further case management hearing in January 2026 for the defence to update the court on its application for Judicial Review.
Royal Courts of Justice in London. Photo by Ruth Tingay
The application for Judicial Review is a process whereby the defence will be seeking permission from a High Court judge to proceed to a full Judicial Review. This typically takes between two to six months but can take longer, depending on the court’s schedule and the availability of a judge and also whether the judge wants an oral hearing or is satisfied with the written submissions on which to make a decision.
If permission is granted, the case will then move to a full Judicial Review and that can take up to a year before it’s heard, sometimes longer, and if the judge’s decision is reserved, there can then be a further wait, often months, waiting for the judgement to be delivered.
NB: As criminal proceedings are still live, comments have been switched off.
Press release from Police Scotland (24 September 2025):
BIRD OF PREY FOUND TO BE POISONED IN PERTH & KINROSS AREA
Enquiries into the death of red kite are ongoing.
On 22 June, 2025 a dead red kite was found near to its nest to the north west of Braco, in the Perth and Kinross area.
Subsequent post mortem examination and toxicology testing have shown that the bird had ingested toxic levels of rodenticide.
The red kite was also found to have ingested the banned substance aldicarb. Aldicarb has been illegal in the UK since 2007 and no products containing this substance are approved for use in the UK.
Birds of prey, like all wild birds in Scotland, are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly kill or injure them.
Wildlife Crime Coordinator, Detective Sergeant David Lynn, said: “This red kite has been poisoned resulting in a very painful and distressing death. Legal rodenticides must be used with extreme caution to avoid the poisoning of non-target species or you may be liable to prosecution. The use of Aldicarb is an illegal and reckless act as this substance can be fatal for both animals and humans.
“Our investigation into this incident is continuing and we will pursue anyone who targets Scotland’s birds of prey. I would encourage anyone with any information in relation to this incident to contact us.
“We ask anyone using the area to be vigilant if they find anything suspicious, don’t touch it, but do take photos and report to Police Scotland immediately on 101.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 1176 of 23 September, 2025.
It’s been a long time coming, but today Natural England has announced it is finally pulling the plug on its project to ‘reintroduce’ Hen Harriers to southern England.
It may sound odd that a pro-raptor conservationist sees this as good news, but I have long argued against this project, for a number of reasons, but predominantly because I saw it as an unhelpful distraction to tackling the real issue – that of the illegal killing of Hen Harriers on the grouse moors of northern Britain.
Natural England has been planning a so-called ‘reintroduction’ of hen harriers to southern England since 2016, as part of DEFRA’s ludicrous Hen Harrier Action Plan.
I think the proposed reintroduction project was initially supported by the pro-grouse shooting lobby because they thought that Hen Harriers could be removed from the northern grouse moors (under the equally ludicrous brood meddling scheme) and released into southern England, thus removing what they saw as a ‘problem species’ to the other end of the country, leaving them to get on with killing Red Grouse for fun (and money) without those pesky Hen Harriers ruining their sport (and profit).
An apt cartoon depicting what many of us saw as the intentions of the stakeholders in Defra’s Hen Harrier Action Plan. Cartoon by Gerard Hobley.
However, that plan was thwarted when it was pointed out that it would be a breach of international legislation to remove Hen Harriers from Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that had been designated specifically for Hen Harriers, and release them elsewhere.
I suspect that the pro-grouse shooting lobby continued to support the proposed ‘reintroduction’ into southern England because they knew that if even a handful of Hen Harriers were successful in the south, it would take the heat / attention off the continued illegal killing in the north.
We saw exactly this, when the brood meddling trial resulted in a few more pairs of Hen Harriers being allowed to breed – the ongoing illegal killing was simply brushed under the carpet by the grouse shooting lobby, and in many cases, outright denied using comically farcical logic (e.g. here) or grotesquely distorted reasoning (e.g. here).
But Hen Harriers don’t need to be ‘reintroduced’ to southern England, or anywhere else in the UK for that matter. They are perfectly capable of breeding in the wild and recolonising their former range, over a relatively short space of time, IF, and only IF, their survival isn’t curtailed by grouse moor gamekeepers shooting, trapping and poisoning them, pulling off their heads and legs, or stamping on their eggs and chicks.
Instead of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds on this distraction project over many years, those funds could instead have been directed towards a focused enforcement plan to bring those criminals to justice.
For those interested, I’ve written extensively about this project since November 2016 and you can find links to the key blog posts here.
Here is today’s announcement from Natural England about the conclusion of the project:
NATURAL ENGLAND HEN HARRIER PROGRAMME – UPDATE TO SOUTHERN REINTRODUCTION PROJECT
By Sofía Muñoz, Senior Officer, Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction
Background
The Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction Project was set up in 2018 with the aim of establishing a wild, farmland-nesting population of hen harriers (Circus cyaneus) in southern England.
The hen harrier is an iconic species and one of the UK’s rarest and most persecuted birds of prey. The combination of its beauty, charisma and rarity make this a highly cherished and valued bird. Hen harriers were once common across the UK but were driven to extinction across most of the British Isles during the 1800s. More recently, Natural England and many organisations have put great effort into helping them recolonise parts of Scotland and northern England.
In England, their numbers are now estimated to have risen to 50 territorial pairs recorded in 2023, from four territorial pairs in 2016 – an increase of 1150%. Despite this increase in numbers, hen harriers remain at risk from illegal killing and disturbance, which is where human activities disrupt nesting sites, which can cause parent birds to abandon their nest and lead to failed eggs or chick deaths.
Increasing hen harrier numbers is a particularly challenging task as they have a strong inclination to return to the same place they have hatched and fledged, meaning they don’t spread areas easily.
Project timeline
In 2018, the Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project was conceived to encourage recolonisation of hen harriers further south in the UK. The project initially sought to translocate young hen harriers from continental Europe for release in the UK. However, collaboration between EU states and new importation rules for animals following the UK’s exit from the EU meant that translocation of young fledging birds became unfeasible due to extensive quarantine periods.
Instead, a pioneering captive conservation breeding programme was developed which focussed on releasing offspring bred in the UK from adult birds imported from France and Spain. Beginning in late 2022, this ambitious programme hoped to boost the number of hen harriers in the UK with minimal impact on wild populations. The project sought to release a minimum of 100 juvenile hen harriers over a five-year period to ensure the best chances of success.
In continental Europe, hen harriers nest on farmland which is directly comparable to much of the arable landscape across southern England. As part of the project, release pens were situated among an arable crop and these would be used to introduce chicks to the site from the captive breeding facility several weeks before fledging. It was hoped that this would enable them to familiarise themselves with the habitat and area around the release site, leading to them returning to breed in this same location in subsequent years.
Latest situation
The third breeding season for the captive birds began in 2025. While the adult birds had not bred successfully in the first two years of the programme, advances in their breeding behaviour over the two years (2023; 2024) had been noted. This meant that the team were optimistic that that things were moving in the right direction to eventually produce chicks for release. However, to the team’s disappointment, the females unfortunately laid infertile eggs in 2025, meaning that no chicks would be released this year.
Following a thorough review, it has become clear that Natural England is no longer in a position to provide the long-term funding and resource needed to continue delivering the Hen Harrier Southern Reintroduction project, despite the progress to date. The difficult decision has therefore been made to conclude this project.
The welfare of the hen harriers held in captivity for the conservation breeding programme remains the priority for the project through its closing phase. A number of options exist for the birds, and these will be explored in full. As they are unsuitable for release into the wild, they will be transferred into the care of a suitable host organisation. Organisations will be considered suitable where they are able to ensure the ongoing welfare of the birds for the remainder of their natural lives. In addition, Natural England would not preclude continuation of the conservation breeding programme under the leadership of the chosen organisation if the priority of welfare is maintained.
Informing future conservation
Knowledge acquired through the delivery of this project can help to inform other conservation projects and expand our understanding of hen harrier biology. We have, for instance, gained a deeper insight into the health, genetics, and migratory patterns of hen harriers.
We would like to express our gratitude to all our partners, who have contributed their time, expertise, and commitment to this project over the years.
ENDS
I’ve asked Natural England for a copy of what it calls its “thorough review” of this failed project.
I’ll report if/when Natural England sends it to me.
Don’t hold your breath though, I’m still waiting for NE to send me a copy of its Hen Harrier Brood Meddling Social Science report that I asked for in April 2025 (here).
Oh, and we’re STILL waiting for NE to release this year’s Hen Harrier breeding figures, AND to release the details of at least seven post-mortem reports on dead Hen Harriers, many of them dating back over a year (here). More commentary on that from me to come shortly…
Officers from Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team are investigating after a number of dead birds of prey were found in the countryside between Belchford and West Ashby in recent months.
Four birds of prey were previously discovered in the area. As a result of these reports, we carried out a Section 19 search under the Wildlife and Countryside Act today. During this search, a further three dead birds of prey were located.
Also in attendance and assisting with our thanks were members of the RSPB and National Wildlife Crime Unit.
The search team included officers from Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Action Team, the RSPB and the National Wildlife Crime Unit. Photo via Lincolnshire Police
All of the birds have been recovered and will be sent for specialist testing through the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) to establish the cause of death.
The Officer In Charge, Detective Constable Aaron Flint Lincolnshire Police’s Force Wildlife Crime officer, said:
“The discovery of multiple dead birds of prey in one locality is deeply concerning. We take all reports of suspected wildlife crime seriously, and our investigation is ongoing. Until we receive toxicology results, we cannot confirm the cause of death, but deliberate harm to birds of prey is a criminal offence and will be fully investigated.”
We are appealing for anyone who may have information which could assist our enquiries. Did you see anything suspicious in the area in recent weeks or months? Have you found any other dead wildlife, bait, or unusual items in the countryside locally?
If you can help, please contact Lincolnshire Police on 101, quoting crime number 25000511499, email aaron.flint@lincs.police.uk or alternatively, you can report anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
This isn’t the first police investigation into the illegal killing of birds of prey in this area.
In March this year, gamekeeper John Bryant 40, of West Ashby, Horncastle, Lincolnshire was convicted after a trial at Lincolnshire Magistrates’ Court of four offences in relation to an investigation into the illegal poisoning of a Red Kite and two Buzzards in the Belchford area (here).
Bryant was ordered to pay over £7,000 in fines (see here and here) and he also lost an appeal against the Police’s decision to revoke his shotgun and firearms certificates (here).
The discovery of seven more dead raptors in the same area this year is, as Detective Constable Aaron Flint says, ‘deeply concerning’.
Well done DC Aaron Flint and team for another successful multi-agency raid and a timely press release – this level of transparency is rare and I can think of a number of police forces who could learn lessons from this approach.
A new BBC documentary aired last night that charts the police investigation into a missing charity cyclist, Tony Parsons, who vanished at the Bridge of Orchy in 2017 and whose remains were found three years later buried in a stink pit on the Auch Estate.
The programme follows the criminal trial of twin brothers Alexander (Sandy) and Robert McKellar from the Auch Estate, initially charged with murder but in 2023 Alexander was eventually convicted for the lesser offence of culpable homicide and Robert for attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
This case was of interest to me because the Auch Estate was at the centre of another criminal investigation in 2009 after walkers discovered a dead Golden Eagle. Tests revealed it had been illegally poisoned with the banned pesticide Carbofuran.
In 2012 Auch Estate farm manager Tom McKellar was convicted and fined £1,200 for possession of Carbofuran (not for poisoning the eagle, even though he had reportedly admitted during interview of putting out poisoned baits). He was also found to be in possession of two unlicensed handguns but instead of receiving a mandatory five-year custodial sentence he was given a 300-hour community service order.
From the Guardian, June 2009
The new BBC documentary provides a fascinating insight into the difficulties of investigating serious crime on a remote rural estate and the parallels with investigations into illegal raptor persecution in these glens will not be lost on blog readers. The ease with which the McKellar twins could hide their appalling crimes for so long is sobering.
Raptor Persecution UK 