Appeal for information from North Yorkshire Police on Facebook (12 May 2025):
Did you see anything suspicious?
Our Rural Task Force is appealing for information following the suspected shooting of a buzzard in the North York Moors National Park.
The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May, and we are appealing for anyone who may have seen any suspicious people or vehicles in the area to please come forward.
Buzzards and all other birds of prey are legally protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence which could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.
If you have any information that could help please email Chris.Unsworth@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for Chris Unsworth.
If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 via their website.
Please quote NYP reference 12250082575 when passing on information.
ENDS
Goathland is probably best known to many as the filming location of the TV series ‘Heartbeat’. To me it’s known as one of a number of raptor persecution hotspots in the grouse moor-dominated North York Moors National Park.
Goathland is almost surrounded by intensively-managed driven grouse moors and in 2020 video footage emerged purporting to show a gamekeeper killing a Goshawk that had been trapped inside a Jackdaw-baited trap on one of the Queen’s grouse moors, part of the Duchy of Lancaster (see here and here).
Channel 4 News did a very good follow-up piece here.
A couple of years earlier, a group of local residents from Goathland got together and called a series of public meetings to discuss their concerns about the environmental damage caused by driven grouse moor management in their area, and particularly their concerns about ‘disappearing’ wildlife, notably satellite-tagged Hen Harriers. The North York Moors National Park has been identified in an excellent scientific paper based on Hen Harrier satellite tag data as the place with the highest risk of HH death/persecution in any of our National Parks – it’s no coincidence that the NYMNP also holds the largest expanse of grouse moors within its boundary.
Notes from the Goathland community meetings of disgruntled residents can be read here, here and here.
If you look at the map showing the distribution of signatures on Wild Justice’s recent Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition, it’s worth noting the high number of signatures in this area. I hope they’ll be making their voices heard again if/when the Government’s petitions committee announces the date for a debate in Westminster Hall.
The latest appeal from North Yorkshire Police about the suspected shooting of a buzzard near Goathland is a bit vague. It’s not clear if the appeal is a result of a witness report of someone seen shooting a Buzzard or whether a corpse has been found and is awaiting post mortem.
The police appeal says, ‘The Buzzard is thought to have been killed near to, Beck Hole Road, Goathland on Friday 2 May…‘.
Here is an annotated map from Guy Shrubsole’s brilliant website Who Owns England, showing the extent of the Duchy of Lancaster grouse moors (purple) around Goathland. I’ve added the approximate location (in red) of the Beck Hole Road.
UPDATE 22 May 2025: Incident update – Buzzard found dead near Goathland in North York Moors National Park ‘was shot’ (here).
Conservation campaign group Wild Justice has provided an update on how its Raptor Forensics Fund has helped UK police forces investigate suspected crimes against birds of prey.
The fund was established in 2020 to cover the costs of early-stage investigations where there is a suspicion of a crime but insufficient evidence to meet the criteria required to submit a carcass for tests in a Government-funded lab.
Police officers have immediate access to the fund to prevent any delay in progressing a case and typically it covers costs such as x-rays and post-mortems. If a crime is then confirmed, officers can apply for further funds to cover costs such as DNA work or other specialist work. If a case results in a conviction, an application is made to the court to recover the costs and these are returned to the forensic fund.
Photo by Ruth Tingay
The fund is administered by the PAW Forensic Working Group (a sub-group of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime) and is open to any regional or national statutory agency in the UK. For further details please visit the PAW Forensic Working Group website here.
Additional funding support has been provided by The Northern England Raptor Forum, Tayside & Fife Raptor Study Group, Devon Birds, Rare Bird Alert and a number of individuals who wish to remain anonymous.
Since being established in 2020, the fund has supported 68 police investigations and has been used to pay for 43 post mortems, 29 x-rays, one CT scan and two DNA profilings.
Some of those 68 investigations have now ended, either because, for example, there wasn’t any evidence of criminality, or there was some evidence but it was insufficient to meet the criminal threshold, or because no suspects were identified, or because the carcass tested positive for avian influenza which prevented any further analysis. Some investigations are on-going.
Eight investigations have so far resulted in prosecutions and subsequent convictions. Seven of the eight convictions involved gamekeepers on Pheasant shoots. You can read the details here.
Brian Chorlton, aged 87, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday (8 May 2025) to answer 11 charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoners kit, and possession and use of four pole traps.
These charges are a result of a police investigation in to reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.
Mr Chorlton pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges and this case will now proceed to trial, scheduled for October 2025.
NB: Comments are turned off as this case is live.
Photo by Ruth Tingay
UPDATE 26 September 2025: Trial of 87-year-old man accused of 11 offences relating to raptor persecution is put on hold as defence applies for Judicial Review of judge’s ruling (here)
Press release from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), 2nd May 2025:
POLICE AIR SUPPORT UNIT JOINS IN FIGHT AGAINST ILLEGAL TARGETING OF PEREGRINE FALCONS
‘Operation Raptor – Peregrine Watch’, an initiative by Police Service of Northern Ireland along with our partners in the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Bird of Prey Sub Group, seeks to bring an end to the illegal persecution of birds of prey, will now have ‘eyes in the sky’ as the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Air Support Unit lends its expertise and cutting edge technology to the cause.
A special licence granted by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), and specific permissions obtained with the assistance of the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group (NIRSG), has enabled police to deploy hi-tech drones to carry out checks of various sites around Northern Ireland where Peregrine Falcons are known to nest, breed and live.
Peregrine falcons in Northern Ireland are a protected species under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (NI) Act 2011, which safeguards all birds of prey from persecution and disturbance. The penalties for crimes under the Order include, but are not limited to, a fine of up to £5,000 per offence and up to six months imprisonment.
The police drones will be used to view and assess falcon nesting and breeding areas that may otherwise be inaccessible and will allow the various agencies involved in PAW to keep a close check on nests, particularly in ‘at risk’ areas, in the hope of reducing instances of illegal poisoning, shooting, trapping and taking of peregrine falcons and their eggs.
Operation Raptor was promoted at the recent NI Raptor Study Group conference. L-R: Dr Marc Ruddock (NI Raptor Study Group), Margaret Mee (White-tailed Eagle Project), Dr Ruth Tingay (Raptor Persecution UK), Chief Inspector Tim Flanigan (PSNI), Emma Meredith (PSNI Wildlife & Animal Welfare Officer)
Speaking about Op Raptor – Peregrine Watch, Police Service lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime Superintendent Johnston McDowell said:
“This initiative between the PAW Bird of Prey Sub Group and our Air Support Unit, working alongside local officers, is a direct result of birds being targeted with very serious and dangerous substances in a number of areas across Northern Ireland.
“Many of the poisons identified in previous cases are deadly not only to our precious wildlife but also to humans, and so the potential impact could go beyond the persecution and destruction of our beautiful native birds of prey.”
The initiative also encourages people to report any suspicions around birds being targeted. Police work closely with our colleagues in the Health and Safety Executive who are responsible for Biocides, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for Rodenticides, to identify poisons being used and take steps to identify and prosecute offenders.
Superintendent McDowell concluded: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is committed to working with partner agencies to tackle wildlife crime through prevention and education, as well as enforcement, and will continue to work hard to combat wildlife crime.”
Last month Natural England announced that it had made a (very sensible) decision not to issue a Hen Harrier brood meddling licence to the Moorland Association in 2025 (see here).
This announcement came a few weeks after Natural England’s announcement that the seven-year Hen Harrier brood meddling trial had now ended (see here).
For new blog readers, the Hen Harrier brood meddling trial was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England between 2018 – 2024, in cahoots with the grouse shooting industry, the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involved the removal of Hen Harrier chicks from grouse moors, they were reared in captivity, then released back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season where many were illegally killed. It was plainly bonkers. For more background see here and here.
The RSPB has long objected to Hen Harrier brood meddling, and even took, along with Mark Avery, a legal challenge against the brood meddling trial in 2018 (here) but unfortunately this was unsuccessful.
The RSPB has now responded to Natural England’s decision not to issue a Hen Harrier brood meddling licence in 2025 and has expressed its ‘relief’ at the decision, given the ongoing illegal persecution of this species by gamekeepers on UK grouse moors. The RSPB remains concerned about the potential for a future brood meddling licence.
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 updated to include the most recently reported victims, four female hen harriers (Dina, R3-F2-22, Bonnie, and Gill) who vanished at various locations between January and April 2025 (here).
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 138 hen harriers gone since 2018, and 31 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. **Post mortem reports on a further seven hen harriers found dead in 2024/2025 are awaited. Those seven individuals are not included in this table.
‘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, are, however, ongoing issues with the licence as it’s been significantly watered-down after an intervention from the grouse shooting industry (see here). Work is underway to address this.
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 by the RSPB’s Investigations Team as featured on Channel 4 News in October 2024).
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).
5 February 2018: Hen harrier Marc ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Durham (here).
9 February 2018: Hen harrier Aalin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Blue ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park (here).
March 2018: Hen harrier Finn ‘disappeared’ near Moffat in Scotland (here).
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).
8 August 2018: Hen harrier Hilma ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Northumberland (here).
16 August 2018: Hen harrier Athena ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
26 August 2018: Hen Harrier Octavia ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
29 August 2018: Hen harrier Margot ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
29 August 2018: Hen Harrier Heulwen ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Wales (here).
3 September 2018: Hen harrier Stelmaria ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
24 September 2018: Hen harrier Heather ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Scotland (here).
2 October 2018: Hen harrier Mabel ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
3 October 2018: Hen Harrier Thor ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Bowland, Lanacashire (here).
23 October 2018: Hen harrier Tom ‘disappeared’ in South Wales (here).
26 October 2018: Hen harrier Arthur ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 November 2018: Hen harrier Barney ‘disappeared’ on Bodmin Moor (here).
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).
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).
16 January 2019: Hen harrier Vulcan ‘disappeared’ in Wiltshire close to Natural England’s proposed reintroduction site (here).
28 January 2019: Hen harrier DeeCee ‘disappeared’ in Glen Esk, a grouse moor area of the Angus Glens (see here).
7 February 2019: Hen harrier Skylar ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in South Lanarkshire (here).
22 April 2019: Hen harrier Marci ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
26 April 2019: Hen harrier Rain ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Nairnshire (here).
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).
11 September 2019: Hen harrier Romario ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
14 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183704) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines (here).
23 September 2019: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #55149) ‘disappeared’ in North Pennines (here).
24 September 2019: Wildland Hen Harrier 2 ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Invercauld in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
24 September 2019: Hen harrier Bronwyn ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in North Wales (here).
10 October 2019: Hen harrier Ada ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North Pennines AONB (here).
12 October 2019: Hen harrier Thistle ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Sutherland (here).
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).
November 2019: Hen harrier Artemis ‘disappeared’ near Long Formacus in south Scotland (RSPB pers comm).
14 December 2019: Hen harrier Oscar ‘disappeared’ in Eskdalemuir, south Scotland (here).
December 2019: Hen harrier Ingmar ‘disappeared’ in the Strathbraan grouse moor area of Perthshire (RSPB pers comm).
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).
23 March 2020: Hen harrier Rosie ‘disappeared’ at an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
1 April 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183703) ‘disappeared’ in unnamed location, tag intermittent (here).
5 April 2020: Hen harrier Hoolie ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here)
8 April 2020: Hen harrier Marlin ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Cairngorms National Park (here).
19 May 2020: Hen harrier Fingal ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Lowther Hills, Scotland (here).
21 May 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2019, #183701) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria shortly after returning from wintering in France (here).
27 May 2020: Hen harrier Silver ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor on Leadhills Estate, Scotland (here).
2020: day/month unknown: Unnamed male hen harrier breeding on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria ‘disappeared’ while away hunting (here).
9 July 2020: Unnamed female hen harrier (#201118) ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed site in Northumberland (here).
25 July 2020: Hen harrier Harriet ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
14 August 2020: Hen harrier Solo ‘disappeared’ in confidential nest area in Lancashire (here).
7 September 2020: Hen harrier Dryad ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
16 September 2020: Hen harrier Fortune ‘disappeared’ from an undisclosed roost site in Northumberland (here).
19 September 2020: Hen harrier Harold ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
20 September 2020: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2020, #55152) ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in North Yorkshire (here).
24 February 2021: Hen harrier Tarras ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in Northumberland (here)
12th April 2021: Hen harrier Yarrow ‘disappeared’ near Stockton, County Durham (here).
18 May 2021: Adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
18 May 2021: Another adult male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from its breeding attempt on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve, Cumbria whilst away hunting (here).
24 July 2021: Hen harrier Asta ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (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).
14th August 2021: Hen harrier Josephine ‘disappeared’ at a ‘confidential site’ in Northumberland (here).
17 September 2021: Hen harrier Reiver ‘disappeared’ in a grouse moor dominated region of Northumberland (here)
24 September 2021: Hen harrier (Brood meddled in 2021, R2-F-1-21) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
15 November 2021: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F1-20) ‘disappeared’ at the edge of a grouse moor on Arkengarthdale Estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Val ‘disappeared’ in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria (here).
19 November 2021: Hen harrier Percy ‘disappeared’ in Lothian, Scotland (here).
12 December 2021: Hen harrier Jasmine ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (High Rigg Moor on the Middlesmoor Estate) in the Nidderdale AONB in North Yorkshire (here).
9 January 2022: Hen harrier Ethel ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (here).
26 January 2022: Hen harrier Amelia ‘disappeared’ in Bowland (here).
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).
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 leg had also been torn off whilst he was still alive (here).
April 2022: Hen harrier ‘Pegasus’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor at Birkdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
May 2022: A male breeding hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from a National Trust-owned grouse moor in the Peak District National Park (here).
May 2022: Another breeding male hen harrier ‘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’ from a ‘confidential site’ in the North Pennines (here).
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 (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sullis’ (tagged by the RSPB) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Cumbria (here).
5 October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-M2-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
10 October 2022: Hen harrier ‘Sia’ ‘disappeared’ near Hamsterley Forest in the North Pennines (here).
October 2022: Hen harrier (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-F1-21) ‘disappeared’ in the North Sea off the North York Moors National Park (here).
1 December 2022: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, #R1-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
7 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, #R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R3-F1-22) on moorland in North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with 3 shotgun pellets in corpse.
14 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R3-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ from winter roost (same as #R2-F2-20) on moorland in the North Pennines AONB (here). Later found dead with two shotgun pellets in corpse.
15 December 2022: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-F1-22) ‘disappeared’ on moorland in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
30 March 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, #R1-F3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
1 April 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, #R2-M1-22) ‘disappeared’ in Yorkshire (here). Notes from NE Sept 2023 spreadsheet update: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“.
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Lagertha’ (tagged by RSPB) ‘disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Hen harrier ‘Nicola’ (Tag ID 234078) ”disappeared’ in North Yorkshire (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Another untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest on RSPB Geltsdale Reserve in Cumbria (here).
April 2023: Untagged male hen harrier ‘disappeared’ from an active nest in Durham (here).
4/5 May 2023: Satellite-tagged male hen harrier called ‘Rush’ ‘disappeared’ from a grouse moor in Bowland AONB in Lancashire (here).
9/10 May 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Dagda’, tagged by the RSPB in Lancashire in June 2022 and who was breeding on the RSPB’s Geltsdale Reserve in 2023 until he ‘vanished’, only to be found dead on the neighbouring Knarsdale grouse moor in May 2023 – a post mortem revealed he had been shot (here).
17 May 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Wayland’ ‘disappeared’ in the Clapham area of North Yorkshire, just north of the Bowland AONB (here).
31 May 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2022, tag #213932, name: R2-M3-22) ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland (grid ref: NY765687) (here).
11 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2021, tag #213922, name: R2-M1-21) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
12 June 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, tag #203004, name: R1-M2-20) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY976322) (here).
6 July 2023: Satellite-tagged female hen harrier named ‘Rubi’ (tag #201124a) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (grid ref: NY911151) (here).
23 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55154a, name: R1-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in Co. Durham (close to where ‘Rubi’ vanished), grid ref: NY910126 (here).
29 July 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2020, tag #55144, name: R2-F2-20) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in the North Pennines. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Dead. Recovered – awaiting PM results. Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
9 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Martha’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Westburnhope Moor) near Hexham in the North Pennines (here).
11 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Selena’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Mossdale Moor) in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
11 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #201118a, name: R3-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in Co. Durham (grid ref: NZ072136) (here).
15 August 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Hepit’ ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor (Birkdale Common) near Kirkby Stephen in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
24 August 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, tag #55155a, name: R1-F2-23) ‘disappeared’ at a confidential site in Northumberland. Notes from the NE spreadsheet: “Final transmission location temporarily withheld at police request“ (here).
August-Sept 2023: Satellite-tagged hen harrier called ‘Harmonia’ ‘disappeared’ in the Yorkshire Dales National Park (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Saranyu’, tagged by the RSPB in Cumbria in June 2023, ‘disappeared’ in Durham in September 2023 (no further details available yet – just outline info provided in 2022 Birdcrime report) (here).
September 2023: Hen harrier female ‘Inger’, a female tagged by the RSPB in Perthshire in July 2022, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Angus Glens in September 2023 (here).
15 September 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Rhys’, tagged in Cumbria on 1st August 2023, ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Grid ref: SD798896 (here).
24 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R2-F2-23’) ‘disappeared’ in the North Pennines, grid ref: NY888062 (here).
25 September 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name: ‘R1-F4-22’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE077699 (here).
26 September 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hope’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ next to a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SD801926 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2020, name: ‘R1-M3-20’) ‘disappeared’ in Co Durham, grid ref: NY935192 (here).
4 October 2023: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name: ‘R4-F1-23’) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref: SE003981 (here).
14 October 2023: Hen harrier male called ‘Cillian’, tagged in Cumbria on 1 August 2023, ‘disappeared’ in south west Scotland, grid ref: NY051946 (here).
15 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Hazel’, tagged in Cumbria on 21 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ on the Isle of Man, grid ref: SC251803 (here).
27 November 2023: Hen harrier female called ‘Gill’, tagged in Northumberland on 10 July 2023, ‘disappeared’ at a confidential location in Teeside (here).
12 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘Susie’, Tag ID 201122, found dead at a confidential location in Northumberland and the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
15 February 2024: Hen harrier female called ‘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).
7 March 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M1-23) found dead in Devon. According to an FoI response from Natural England in June 2024 this death is the subject of an ongoing police investigation (here).
24 April 2024: Hen harrier male called ‘Ken’, Tag ID 213849a, ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances close to a grouse moor in Bowland, grid ref SD 684601 (here).
17 May 2024: Hen harrier male (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-M2-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances next to Middlesmoor grouse moor in Nidderdale, grid ref SE043754 (here).
25 June 2024: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2023, name R2-F1-23) ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances on a grouse moor in Yorkshire Dales National Park, grid ref NY985082 (here).
July 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Helius’ satellite tagged by the RSPB ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances in Bowland (here).
October 2024: An un-tagged hen harrier was seemingly shot on a grouse moor by one of three gamekeepers being secretly filmed by the RSPB (here).
1 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Dreich’, Tag ID: 254842, ‘disappeared’ in Lanarkshire. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
15 October 2024: Hen harrier male named ‘Baldur’, Tag ID: 240291, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
19 October 2024: Hen harrier female named ‘Margaret’, Tag ID: 254844, ‘disappeared’ in Northumberland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown, site confidential – ongoing investigation‘ (here).
12 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Dina’, Tag ID: 254837, ‘disappeared’ near a grouse moor in the Lammermuirs, south Scotland (grid ref: NT 681512). Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
15 January 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘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).
3 February 2025: Hen harrier female (brood meddled in 2022, name R3-F2-22) ‘disappeared’ on a grouse moor in the North York Moors National Park. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown’ (here).
4 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Bonnie’, Tag ID: 254841, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
10 April 2025: Hen harrier female named ‘Gill’, Tag ID: 240294, ‘disappeared’ in Scotland. Listed by NE as ‘Missing Fate Unknown. Site confidential – ongoing investigation’ (here).
To be continued…….
Of these 138 incidents, only one has resulted in an arrest and a subsequent prosecution (ongoing – gamekeeper due in court in May 2025, 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 THIRTY EIGHT 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) 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 33 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).
Wild Justice has launched another petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting. This latest petition is intended to gauge the view of the new Labour Government, as previous petitions were all lodged under the Conservative Government with its well-documented vested interests. Labour issued an appallingly pathetic interim response to the petition, via DEFRA, in January 2025 after the petition had reached 10,000 signatures, and indicated it had no intention of banning driven grouse shooting (see here).
The petition is live until 22 May 2025. It has already passed the 100,000 signature threshold required to qualify for a debate in Westminster Hall so now we wait to find out if the Government will call it and if/when it does, how on earth it’s going to defend the status quo.
Statement from Lincolnshire Police (18 April 2025)
SUMMONS TO COURT FOR BIRD OF PREY OFFENCES
Brian Chorlton, aged 87, of Morkery Lane, Castle Bytham has been summoned to court following reports that birds of prey were being poisoned in the Castle Bytham area.
He faces eleven charges relating to the unapproved or unlawful storage of the chemical Aldicarb, possession of a poisoners kit, possession and use of four pole traps.
He has been summoned to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 8 May 2025.
ENDS
NB: Comments are turned off as this case is live.
UPDATE 9 May 2025: 87-year-old man pleads not guilty to 11 charges relating to alleged raptor persecution in Lincolnshire – case now goes to trial (here)
UPDATE 26 September 2025: Trial of 87-year-old man accused of 11 offences relating to raptor persecution is put on hold as defence applies for Judicial Review of judge’s ruling (here)
Natural England / DEFRA have turned down a licence application for hen harrier brood meddling in the 2025 breeding season, following the recent closure of the seven-year hen harrier brood meddling ‘trial’.
For new blog readers, the hen harrier brood meddling trial was a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England between 2018 – 2024, in cahoots with the grouse shooting industry, the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involved the removal of hen harrier chicks from grouse moors, they were reared in captivity, then released back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season where many were illegally killed. It was plainly bonkers. For more background see here and here.
In autumn last year, the Moorland Association (grouse moor owners’ lobby group in England) lodged a licence application with Natural England, seeking to continue hen harrier brood meddling in 2025 albeit with some significant changes from the ‘trial’ conditions.
Those proposed changes included removing the requirement to satellite tag brood meddled hen harriers, presumably because the data from current satellite-tagged hen harriers have been so very effective at revealing the devastating extent of ongoing hen harrier persecution (e.g. see here and here).
The other main change was that the Moorland Association wanted “a single release site” [for brood meddled hen harriers], “irrespective of the location from where they’d been removed from their nests”, presumably to get around the problem of there not being sufficient receptor sites willing to take the brood meddled harriers. I understand that the proposed single release site would have been of great interest to readers of this blog!
In March this year, Natural England announced the end of the hen harrier brood meddling trial but said it had not yet made a decision on whether to roll out brood meddling more widely (see here).
Today, Natural England has updated its hen harrier brood meddling blog with the following statement:
NE hasn’t provided any more detail about how it came to this very welcome decision but I have submitted an FoI and will publish NE’s response when it arrives.
Meanwhile, the Moorland Association has issued its own version of events about why its licence application was refused. I take everything the MA says with a dumper-truck-full of salt, given the reputation of its CEO for distorting and manipulating facts (e.g. see here and here).
According to this statement, the Moorland Association’s refusal to satellite tag brood meddled hen harriers was a factor in NE’s decision-making process. The Moorland Association says this:
“We proposed using high visibility leg tags because we have serious concerns about using satellite tags – particularly the added cost and complexity. We also have concerns about how satellite tracking data is [sic] being used to damage trust and increased [sic] tension“.
Er, nope. Satellite tag data are being used to demonstrate the ongoing and widespread criminal killing of hen harriers in and around many driven grouse moors. It’s the illegal killing (undertaken by gamekeepers on grouse moors) that’s damaging trust and increasing tension, not the use of satellite tag data!
At least 134 hen harriers ‘disappeared’/were illegally killed during the brood meddling trial, mostly on or close to grouse moors, and they’re just the ones we know about.
Incidentally, there’s news about a recent, very high profile case, coming shortly…
Meanwhile, I’m raising a glass to the end of hen harrier brood meddling (for this year, at least). It should never have started in the first place. Well done to all those who have campaigned so hard against it over the last seven years and shame on the individuals and organisations who facilitated this conservation sham.
Wild Justice’s petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting is nearing its 100,000-signature goal. It currently stands at 91,439. If you’d like to help it over the line, for the sake of future generations of hen harriers, please click here.
Further to the news about the conviction and sentencing of Lincolnshire farmer/gamekeeper John Bryant for multiple offences at Grange Farms, West Ashby in October 2022, relating to an investigation into the illegal persecution of birds of prey (see here, here and here), Lincolnshire Police’s Rural Crime Team has provided some information about the revocation of Bryant’s shotgun and firearms certificates.
Convicted farmer/gamekeeper John Bryant
“We have been asked about his firearms/shotgun certificates.
“As a direct result of this investigation. Both from matters revolving around the storage and security of firearms and ammunition along with this case being brought against him, his authority to possess firearms and shotguns was also withdrawn. In other words, Lincolnshire Police revoked those certificates so he could no longer possess licensable guns.
“This was contested at Lincoln Crown Court whereby his legal team failed to argue the case and judgement was held in support of the Police decision to revoke them.
“This should also stand as a warning to all certificate holders. One criminal act can easily lose you your right to possess firearms, but also the way you store/secure/keep those firearms can also have a huge detrimental impact on those certificates“.
It sounds then, that in addition to the charges against Bryant for the poison and trap offences, there was also an issue about the storage and security of his firearms and ammunition, although I haven’t seen any report of charges being brought against him for those alleged offences, just a revocation of his licences.
Given that the appeal hearing against his firearms and shotgun licence revocations was held at Lincoln Crown Court (date unknown), this probably accounts for at least some of the reported £100,000 costs incurred by Bryant for his defence, as mentioned in court during his sentencing hearing yesterday.
Looking at the account’s for Grange Farms (West Ashby) Ltd, held on Companies House website, which lists Bryant as one of several Directors (here), the family’s company can easily afford to cover Bryant’s own legal costs in addition to the fine and costs he received from the court (£7,449) from the company’s £1 million+ capital and reserves.
I do wonder about the firearms and shotgun revocations though. Can other family members, residing and/or working at the same property, hold their own certificates and thus legitimately keep firearms and shotguns on the premises? And if so, what measures are taken to ensure John Bryant doesn’t have access to them?
These are genuine questions. I’d welcome the opinion of any firearms experts who might be reading this.
Further to today’s earlier blog on the sentencing of Lincolnshire gamekeeper John Bryant who was found guilty of multiple crimes after a police investigation into the illegal killing of a red kite and two buzzards (see here), the RSPB Investigations Team has issued the following press release:
GAMEKEEPER ORDERED TO PAY OVER £7,000 AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF POISON AND TRAP-RELATED OFFENCES
Numerous birds of prey had been poisoned in the Belchford area of Lincolnshire over a number of years, leading to a police investigation.
Police uncovered large quantities of banned poison and illegal traps on the gamebird shoot.
The RSPB is urging the government to introduce a licensing scheme for all gamebird shooting, with the sanction to remove licences to shoot if wildlife protection laws are broken, and to act as a meaningful deterrent to bird of prey crimes in particular.
After a two-day trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, John Bryant (40), of West Ashby, Horncastle was found guilty on 7 March 2025 in relation to four offences. He was sentenced on 20 March 2025 and ordered to pay £7,449 in total – including £2112 in fines for the four offences, £4,492 in costs and a victim surcharge of £845. The court heard how a number of birds of prey were found poisoned in the Belchford area over several years, and how Lincolnshire Police then led a multi-agency search on a pheasant and partridge shoot at Grange Farms, West Ashby in October 2022 together with the RSPB, National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and Natural England.
This case is yet another example of why the RSPB is urging Westminster to introduce a system of licensing for gamebird shooting, to afford birds of prey better protection, and to follow Scotland’s lead on licensing all grouse shooting as a positive start.
Bryant, a gamekeeper and farmer, pleaded guilty to two offences relating to the illegal storage and usage of Alphachloralose. Alphachloralose can be legally used as a poison for rodents using products at 4% concentration or lower. However, during a search of his home, police found the poison illegally decanted into pots in the suspect’s vehicle and outbuilding. These two pots were tested under the WIIS (Wildlife Incident Investigations Scheme) run by Natural England, and found to contain banned and highly dangerous levels (85% and 88%) of the deadly substance. Alphachloralose remains one of the most common substances used for poisoning birds of prey.
Bryant was also found guilty of two offences relating to the possession of two pole traps, deemed as items capable of committing a wildlife offence. Police found unset spring traps (similar to a powerful mouse trap) hanging from wooden posts at two locations on land managed by Bryant. This set up is commonly recognized as a pole trap, used to catch and brutally injure birds of prey that perch on the post when hunting. Pole traps have been banned since 1904.
Forensic DNA analysis conducted by SASA (Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture) found traces of Tawny Owl and wood pigeon DNA on one spring trap and the other spring trap tested positive for wood pigeon DNA. Bryant was found not guilty of setting any pole traps.
The District Judge said he found it unrealistic that Bryant would not have known the pole traps were on his land, which had been part of his defence.
Police also found four unset gin traps in an outbuilding belonging to the suspect. Forensic DNA analysis conducted by SASA found bird of prey DNA on three of the gin traps (a mechanical device, illegal in the UK since 1958, designed to catch an animal by the leg using spring-operated jaws). Two had Buzzard DNA on them, with a Sparrowhawk feather identified in the jaws of a third trap. Bryant was charged in relation to possession of the gin traps being items capable of committing a wildlife offence, but was found not guilty.
An assortment of traps found in Bryant’s garage. Photo: RSPB
One of the gin traps with what look like relatively fresh nettles caught in the jaw. Photo: RSPB
Several birds of prey have been found poisoned in the Belchford area over a number of years. In 2022 a Buzzard was found poisoned by Alphachloralose. In 2020 another Buzzard was killed having ingested the banned insecticide Aldicarb, and in 2017 a Red Kite was killed by Alphachloralose. Bryant was not charged in relation to poisoning any of these birds.
It is illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a wild bird in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Yet the persecution of raptors persists, particularly in connection with land managed for gamebird shooting. Of all individuals convicted of bird of prey persecution-related offences from 2009 to 2023, 68% have been gamekeepers.
Howard Jones, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer, said:
“This case highlights the immense value of police searches in relation to bird of prey persecution which clearly has been an issue in this area. This search found illegal poisons being used in a hugely dangerous manner, putting the public and wildlife at risk, along with a number of illegal traps.
“We are urging the UK Government to introduce a system of licensing for all gamebird shooting, whereby this licence to operate could be revoked if crimes against birds of prey are detected on an estate. This would set a better precedent and act as a greater deterrent to those tempted to commit these crimes. “We thank Lincolnshire Police, and in particular DC Aaron Flint, on an excellent investigation into this case, demonstrating the value in strong partnership working in tackling bird of prey persecution“.
DC Aaron Flint, Forces Wildlife Crime Officer at Lincolnshire Police, said:
“Unfortunately, this case is just one of a large number of bird of prey poisonings reported in Lincolnshire in recent years. However, the outcome demonstrates that Lincolnshire Police takes bird of prey persecution seriously. We thoroughly investigate any reports that relate to criminal activity around birds of prey. Our message is this: If you commit crimes against wildlife in Lincolnshire, we will identify you and you will be put before the courts.
“This investigation was made possible through close collaboration with multiple agencies, and I want to express my gratitude to the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the RSPB, Natural England, CPS and SASA for their invaluable support. The Forensic Analysis Fund also played a vital role in advancing this investigation“.
Chief Inspector Kevin Lacks-Kelly, Head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit:
“Thanks to the work of Police and Partners we have seen justice delivered. This conviction sends a strong message that bird of prey crime will not be tolerated, and you will feel the full force of the national policing capability. These offences are not only cruel, the undermine the conservation of our vulnerable wildlife. These birds should be free for us all to enjoy, not consigned to a police evidence bags.”
If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey which you wish to report anonymously, call the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
ENDS
Well done to Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Team and the partner agencies whose hard work resulted in Bryant’s conviction.
£7,000 is a relatively small fine given the seriousness of Bryant’s crimes, although when compared with some of the recent pathetic fines handed out by courts for wildlife crimes, this figure can be viewed as being substantial.
I’ve also been told by a blog reader who was observing proceedings in court, that it was mentioned that Bryant’s defence costs were £100,000. If that figure is accurate then he certainly has taken a big financial hit.
Raptor Persecution UK 