Tag: poisoning

Blundering Benyon gives evidence at wildlife crime inquiry

Everyone’s favourite Minister Richard Benyon has been giving evidence at the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into wildlife crime (see here, here and here for earlier blog posts about this inquiry).

Some of the topics on which Benyon was questioned included #buzzardgate, hen harriers, the introduction of vicarious liability in England, the legislation concerning possession of illegal poison, and the independence of Natural England.

So how did he do?

He started off badly when questioned about the need for legislation to criminalise the possession of certain poisons. The legislation is already in place in Scotland but a loophole in the English legislation means that ‘possession’ (rather than ‘use’) is still not an offence – see here for an RSPB press release last year on this very topic. Bungling Benyon suggested that the current legislation was adequate and didn’t require updating. He was picked up on this a bit later by the Committee Chair, who insisted on clarifying whether there was a difference between ‘possession’ and ‘use’ in the legislation. Benyon chose the safe option and asked whether he could make the clarification in writing at a later date, presumably to give himself time to actually go and read the legislation.

On the issue of whether to introduce vicarious liability legislation in England for raptor persecution crime, Benyon commented that there were no plans to introduce VL but he will watch the impact of it in Scotland. That’s fair enough. Why waste time and funds to introduce something that may be completely useless as a tool to combat raptor crime until you’ve seen whether it can make a difference in Scotland. It was suggested to Benyon that some might say the Scottish government takes wildlife crime more seriously than their English counterparts. Benyon rejected that and said there are wildlife crime measures that are making a difference and the legislation is adequate. Unfortunately he didn’t give any examples.

When asked about #buzzardgate, he basically said he loved buzzards but that some of the people protesting about the ‘study’ had misunderstood the research. Er, what was there to misunderstand? Benyon and his game-shooting cronies wanted to spend our money removing native buzzards from the wild, on private shooting estates, for the benefit of mass-introduced non-native species that are bred for the sole purpose of being killed for sport. “I recognise that it hit a wall of credibility“, said Benyon. Too bloody right it did.

When asked whether he was doing anything specific to protect the hen harrier, Benyon stated, “Yes, we are“. He said he was looking at the possibilty of a project that might work, but he didn’t want to provide any specific details because “it is at a very conceptual stage“. Hmm. Could this be the controversial plan to introduce a so-called ‘ceiling’ for hen harrier numbers, a concept that has been knocking around since 2008 (see here and here)? We’ll have to wait and see.

Benyon was then asked: To what extent are you satisfied that Natural England is making sufficient use of its civil enforcement powers in relation to SSSIs? Benyon’s response: “…….It is also very important that Natural England is an arm’s length body with the neccessary statutory basis that they have, and that they are able to operate the laws and sanctions that they have freely and unencumbered“. Now that’s an interesting statement! If you’ve been following Mark Avery’s superb analysis of what went on in the Walshaw grouse moor fiasco (see here for his 23rd blog entry on the subject), you’d be hard pressed to believe that Natural England acted “freely and unencumbered”. There’s still plenty more to be uncovered about what happened between Natural England and Walshaw Moor Estate but rest assured that Mark Avery will have a good go at getting to the bottom of it. Benyon’s statement may just come back to haunt him.

To read the full transcript of Benyon’s evidence to the Environmental Audit Committee, see here. Bear in mind that this is the uncorrected version; the corrected version should be posted shortly.

The EAC has now finished compiling the written and oral evidence in this inquiry and a report should be published in due course.

Glen Orchy farce continues

The Glen Orchy case against Tom McKellar continued at Oban Sheriff Court last Friday (27 July) with yet more legal argument.

You won’t be surprised to learn that sentencing has once again been deferred. Next court date is in early September.

Glen Orchy gamekeeper tries to change his plea

Here’s some insight into what is causing the delay in the sentencing of Tom McKellar in the Glen Orchy poison case. From yesterday’s Press & Journal:

An Argyll farmer is attempting to take back his plea of guilty to having a deadly poison which has been banned after being linked to the killing of birds of prey.

Tom McKellar, 50, of Fir Park Cottage, Auch Estate, Bridge of Orchy, originally pleaded guilty at Oban Sheriff Court to possessing the pesticide Carbofuran, a pesticide outlawed for more than 10 years, at his home in June 2009.

At a hearing in May his defence solicitor David McKie, in his plea in mitigation, said that his client did not realise the poison was Carbofuran.

Sheriff Douglas Small then queried if McKellar should be pleading guilty, and he continued the case for legal debate until yesterday [Wednesday 25 July 2012].

But when the case called yesterday McKellar had new legal representation in the form of solicitor Cameron Tait who sought permission from Sheriff Small to withdraw the guilty plea and replace it with a not guilty one.

This motion was “strenuously opposed” by fiscal Kate Fleming and a day-long legal debate took place.

Mr Tait said: “He advised police that he thought the poison was Wetex. He said he didn’t know what Carbofuran was. He had been supplied with it by the estate”.

Miss Fleming argued that this was not a defence. She said there was an absence of language such as “knowingly” possessing Carbofuran in the charge.

Sheriff Small adjourned the case until tomorrow [today, Friday 27 July 2012] to hear more legal arguments from the Crown and the defence.

It emerged at previous court hearings that police were investigating the death of a golden eagle in Glen Orchy in June 2009 when they obtained a search warrant for McKellar’s house. They found granules of Carbofuran in a game bag in his porch. Police also found the carcases of a sheep and a fox laced with Carbofuran.

Miss Fleming previously told the court that since 1988, there have been 240 fatal poisonings of wildlife by Carbofuran, mostly birds of prey.

The case resumes today. If the Sheriff accepts McKellar’s not guilty plea then presumably this case could go to trial at a later date.

For background information on this case, click on the ‘Glen Orchy’ tag at the top of this post.

Thank you to the contributor who sent us the Press & Journal clipping.

Glen Orchy sentencing update #2

Another delay….adjourned, again. Next hearing will be Friday (27 July).

Tick tock.

Glen Orchy sentencing update

It looks like McKellar’s sentencing has been delayed again. Now apparently scheduled for Wednesday (25th July).

Glen Orchy poison case: sentence due today

It’s been a long time coming. A very long time. Over three years. But today is the day Tom McKellar is sentenced for possession of Carbofuran, found at his house in June 2009 during a police investigation into the poisoning of a golden eagle (see here, here, here and here).

McKellar wasn’t charged in relation to the dead eagle, just for possession of a banned pesticide, to which he pleaded guilty. There’s a lot more to this case than has previously been reported, and once sentencing has finished we’ll have a few things to say.

So what do you think his punishment will be? Six hours on the naughty step?

Police investigate attempted peregrine poisoning

Police are investigating the attempted poisoning of peregrines after the discovery of a live pigeon, covered in poison, was found tethered to a rock at a quarry in North Wales.

Well done to Sgt Rob Taylor, the local Police Wildlife Crime Officer, for highlighting the incident and for warning the public about the danger to walkers and dogs.

The newspaper report suggests this isn’t the first tethered & poisoned pigeon to be used as live bait at this site.

News report in the North Wales Daily Post here

Yet another dead golden eagle: poisoning suspected, again

The Press and Journal is reporting the following story:

Another dead golden eagle: poisoning suspected.

Poison fears after golden eagle found dead in prime island habitat.

Police are investigating another suspicious golden eagle death- this time in one of the heartlands of the species.

The bird of prey was found at Loch Langabhat on Harris at the end of last month. Scotland’s first year round observatory to allow the public to view golden eagles opened on the island earlier this year.

It is understood that the creature was found by rangers working for the North Harris Trust, which runs the observatory.

The area has one of the highest breeding concentrations of the bird in Europe. About 20 pairs of golden eagles are resident on the island.

A police spokesman said: “We are investigating the death of a golden eagle. Its carcase has been sent for analysis to see if it had been poisoned.”

The same day as the Harris eagle was found, tests confirmed that a golden eagle found dead near Morar in Lochaber had been poisoned.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland said it was the third known poisoning incident in the area in 10 years. Two white tailed sea eagles were previously found poisoned.

The latest death in Lochaber was discovered in March and the results of a post mortem examination have now been released. They show banned pesticides were used.

So, if this latest dead golden eagle is found to have been poisoned, it will be the third illegally-killed golden eagle reported in the last three weeks. The first one was the incident we reported on 18 June in the Tayside/Grampian region (see here), which, incidentally, still has not been the subject of a formal press release by either the police or the RSPB. The second one was reported by the RSPB and the police on 28 June and related to a poisoned golden eagle found dead in Lochaber three months earlier (see here) [This is the eagle pictured above].

It seems that ‘someone’ has leaked the story of the Harris dead eagle to the Press and Journal as there doesn’t appear to be any formal press release on any of the other news sites or the Northern Constabulary website. Well done to whoever alerted the P&J. We’ll await the SASA lab tests with interest. It’s quite possible of course that this eagle hasn’t been poisoned, although pesticide-poisoned birds generally exhibit diagnostic signs (like clenched feet and dead insects on the body) – signs with which investigators will be very familiar.

North Harris Eagle Observatory webpage here

Golden eagle poisoned in Lochaber

A golden eagle is poisoned with banned pesticides in Lochaber and the police/RSPB wait for three months before appealing for information. What’s the point? Can anyone explain the purpose of this delay? Even the Scotsman comments on it (here). Can anyone think of another type of crime where these reporting delays are common?

RSPB press release here

Please note: this dead golden eagle is not the same dead golden eagle we reported on the 18 June (see here). We’re still waiting for an official press release about that one. But anyway, that’s two known illegally-killed golden eagles reported in the space of 10 days, and we understand that at least two others have been ‘missing’ since May, according to their sat tag data. Looks like we’re going to have to update our dead eagle page (here).

Devon & Cornwall police issue bird poisoning alert

Devon & Cornwall Police continue their impressive proactive stance against wildlife crime by today issuing a press release to warn the general public to be on the look out for poisoned birds and poisoned baits.

The alert has been issued to the local community in an area with a history of raptor poisoning, including previous attempts to poison peregrines. The public have been warned about the potentially fatal consequences of coming in to contact with the poisons used, and have been reassured that regular police patrols will be undertaken in the area.

We don’t see enough of this sort of proactive approach (although last year West Yorkshire Police did send out a public warning after poisoned bait was discovered – see here, as did Northern Constabulary, see here).

Once again, Police Wildlife Crime Officer PC Josh Marshall deserves huge plaudits for his efforts. Earlier this year Josh was behind a scheme to attach covert cameras at vulnerable raptor nest sites that resulted in catching two men disturbing a peregrine site within 48 hours of installing the equipment (see here). Somebody needs to get him and his enlightened bosses up to Scotland to provide training workshops for every single police force.

See here for the police poisoning alert.