Wildlife crime has been in the news again this week with a special report in the Independent on Sunday and news of a terrible breeding season for English hen harriers.
Last year the RSPB received 1,206 reports of potential offences against wild birds. Included in these were 210 reports of bird of prey killings, 133 poisoning incidents, 36 egg collecting incidents, 106 reports of illegal bird trading and 27 instances of disturbance to protected birds.
Not all of these end up in the courts, but the RSPB and our wildlife crime partners in the RSPCA and the Police pursue every conviction we can. Here’s some of those who have been collared by the long arm of the law recently for their despicable crimes against birds.
Roger Venton and Kyle Burden – Venton, head gamekeeper at Kempton Estate in Shropshire, was handed a suspended three month jail sentence, a fine and community service in January after he pleaded guilty to allowing his assistant, Burden, to use a cage trap baited with a raven. Burden was given a 26-week suspended sentence for killing badgers and buzzards on the estate.
Richard Pearson – In 2006 the home of Pearson, an illegal egg collector, was raided and officers were shocked to discover more than 7,000 eggs (pictured). Pearson was sent to jail last year for 23 weeks – one of 12 people handed custodial sentences for egg collecting since 2001.
Alistair Waters – In October last year Oban Sheriff Court in Aberdeen fined Waters £600 for recklessly disturbing a white tailed eagle nest on the Isle of Mull. Waters, eager to get a photograph of a pair of nesting eagles, had been spotted disturbing their nest just hours after an egg had been laid in it, despite the well advertised public watch points that had been provided nearby.
Robert Jenkins – Police and RSPCA officers entered Jenkins’ home in Port Talbot, Wales in May 2007 armed with a search warrant following reports of illegal bird dealing. They found 29 protected birds at the address, 22 of which had been caught from the wild, including linnets, goldfinches and chaffinches. He was convicted of possession of wild birds and fined £1,000.
Paul Cheetham and Jamie Griffiths – In August last year magistrates at a court in Rhyl described Cheetham and Griffiths’ drunken attack on a seagull as ‘sickening’. The pair, who were jailed for four months, filmed themselves on their mobile phones kicking the bird to death.