Three gamekeepers yesterday admitted using baited traps to catch protected birds of prey that might attack grouse and partridges on an estate in North Yorkshire.
Scarborough magistrates heard that RSPB inspectors had found five traps baited with live pigeons on the Snilesworth estate near Osmotherley.
The traps can be used legally only to catch birds such as magpies and crows, and only members of the crow family can be used as bait.
James Shuttlewood, 40, head keeper of the Snilesworth estate, pleaded guilty to five charges of permitting the use of traps and was fined £250 on each.
Charles Woof, 23, a beat keeper, of Swainby, North Yorkshire, admitted one charge of using a trap and was fined £100. David Cook, 18, an under-keeper, of Ingleby, North Yorkshire, admitted two charges of using traps and was given a 12-month conditional discharge. The three were also ordered to pay costs of £43 each. All the charges were brought under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).
The court heard that last May a farmer had reported finding a baited trap on the estate. RSPB officers kept watch on two traps and filmed Cook attending to one of them and feeding a pigeon grain.
After the hearing, Guy Shorrock, an RSPB investigations officer, denounced the case as “a shocking indictment” of practices on the estate. “This is a disgraceful practice and is a huge problem across the whole of upland Britain. There are large areas of the country where very rare and charismatic birds are either absent or in very low numbers because of illegal trapping, shooting and poisoning.”
Officials cannot remember another case of three gamekeepers from the same estate being convicted of similar offences. “It’s an upland estate and grouse shooting is the main sport,” said Shorrock. “But there is also a lot of partridge and pheasant shooting there. Legally, gamekeepers can control certain predators … but all birds of prey are fully protected and have been for more than 50 years.
“The traps were to catch birds of prey, principally sparrowhawks and goshawks. But other birds of prey such as buzzards could also go in them. You set the trap, put the pigeon in, feed and water [it] and wait a few days.”
Source: The Guardian