CONVICTED (2024) | Alexander Hamilton, born c. 1959, of 112 Windsor Drive, Penicuik EH26 8EP – trapped and starved magpies to death in his garden.
Hamilton, a former gamekeeper, pleaded guilty to confining /ibirds in illegal cages in his garden.
A trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Hamilton deprived the animals of food, water and adequate shelter, which caused them deep distress.
His disturbing operation was uncovered by SSPCA animal welfare officers on July 29, 2022, after the alarm was raised by a neighbour who witnessed two of the birds being trapped at his property.
The magpies were discovered locked up in several small metal cages, as another bird was found lying dead on paving slabs outside.
Animal welfare officers reported how three of the traps were found in the bottom corner of Hamilton’s garden, hidden from the rest of the area by a large fencing panel. They discovered the first trap to be an illegal Larsen Mate trap containing one magpie, which was crammed into the tiny space and in poor condition.
In the second cage, another magpie was found in poor bodily condition. It had managed to squeeze through the mesh on the floor and enter a space underneath the adjacent shed.
The court heard how SSPCA officers could hear the bird scraping and pecking at the wooden floor, in a clear state of distress. After intervention, the magpies were released from the cages and into the wild.
Commenting on his sentence, SSPCA Chief Inspector Mark Rafferty, Special Investigation Unit, said: “We are pleased with the five-year ban at the sentencing result. All animals should be protected from suffering and this includes magpies.
“Our team treats these cases seriously and it is good to see that the courts share this view. We will continue to investigate this type of offending, to ensure people like Hamilton are caught and stopped from further cruelty acts.
“I would like to thank the Procurator Fiscal Karon Rollo and the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit.”
Sentencing | 100 hours of community service. Five-year ban on owning and keeping animals (expires March 2029).
CONVICTED (2023) | gamekeeper Ryan Martin, born 28 August 2000, of Balmanno Cottages, Marykirk, Laurencekirk AB30 1US – set his dogs on foxes and badgers and filmed the carnage.
Ryan Martin, who is a father, uploaded twisted social media videos of his dogs killing badgers and foxes
Martin, who is employed as a gamekeeper, posted twisted videos to TikTok and Snapchat showing bloody clashes between his dogs and foxes or badgers. Martin is heard on the videos goading his dogs into attacking the wild animals.
The shocking footage was used as evidence to convict Martin, who considered foxes and badgers as “vermin”
Martin was prosecuted following an investigation by the Scottish SPCA’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) after they received intelligence in January 2022.
On February 9, 2022, SSPCA inspectors and police officers visited Martin at the home he shares with fiancée Lia Stewart in the Aberdeenshire village of Marykirk.
A search was undertaken of the property and Martin’s mobile phone was seized. Three dogs, who looked similar to those in Martin’s social media videos, were also removed. .
The seized dogs, who all had fresh and historical animal fighting injuries, were brindle lurcher Boss, tan and white lurcher Storm and brindle deerhound/greyhound Beau.
Martin’s dogs had fresh wounds and historical injuries caused by illegal fighting with wildlife.
The dogs were examined by a vet who concluded: “It is my opinion that these dogs have been repeatedly involved in fighting with other animals and, in the case of Storm, the injuries are consistent with fighting with a badger.
“The injuries in Beau do not exclude fighting with badgers. The injuries in these dogs would have caused them pain and suffering.
“In summary, it is my considered opinion that these dogs were involved in illegal wild animal fighting activities.
“The type and distribution of injuries on Storm is consistent with wounds sustained during ‘badger baiting’ – an illegal activity where both the dogs and badgers suffer a great deal.”
Boss was found to have multiple healed injuries and scars, as well as a “deformity” to the lower lip. These injuries were deemed by a vet “consistent with, but not exclusive to, wild animal fighting injuries”.
Forensic examination of Martin’s phone uncovered numerous videos of his dogs fighting with foxes and badgers.
One 60-second video, which had been posted to Snapchat, showed Storm with the top of a badger’s head in her mouth whilst Beau and Boss are biting and attacking the badger all over his body and legs.
Depute fiscal Clair Stewart told the court: “The badger’s head and body are heavily blood-stained. A dog can be heard squealing and the badger can be seen to have a hold of Storm’s snout and lower jaw within its mouth.
“Throughout this clip, the accused can be heard shouting, ‘Get on, get on, chi chi chi chi’.”
Storm is seen “gripping the badger’s head in her mouth” while Beau and Boss bite at the badger, which is “twisting and wriggling on the roadway”.
Ms Stewart continued: “Storm’s face is buried into the chest of the badger, which appears to have a grip of her by her face.
“The accused can still be heard shouting encouragement to the dogs,
‘Get on, dogs, get on, get in there, chi chi chi.
“The video ends with Beau and Storm sitting within the rear of a vehicle with bleeding and fresh injuries to their noses.
“The accused can be heard to say, ‘Look at her, man. Go on, dogs. Piggies. Wayhay.’”
Pigs or piggies is a slang term for badgers commonly used by wildlife criminals like Martin.
A second video, posted on TikTok, shows Storm standing in a field with blood around her chest, face and head.
Storm and an unidentified lurcher dog then attack a live badger before the video cuts into another where a fox “appears to have Storm by the collar”.
At the start of a third video, posted on TikTok, Martin tells his audience: “Hold on to your fucking hats. What you’re about to see isn’t 100% legal”.
A series of photographs then show several dogs standing in a field followed by a video of Storm beside a dead fox lying on the ground.
Martin initially denied causing his dogs to fight with badgers and foxes on various occasions but later changed his plea to guilty.
His lawyer Gregor Kelly of Lefevre Litigation initially claimed his client was “out at night shooting foxes as he thinks he’s entitled to do with his dogs.”
Kelly continued: “At the time, when foxes have been shot, he encourages the dogs to go and retrieve, as they’re trained to do, and dispatch the foxes.
“On one occasion, they encountered a badger.”
Kelly conceded that “immature” and “frightened” Martin saw foxes and badgers as “vermin” but “accepts these are views not acceptable in modern Scotland”.
He told the court that Martin planned to work as a joiner to support his partner and children in the future.
Sheriff Ian Wallace told Martin: “I don’t accept the explanation you gave to the social worker.
“It’s clear from the narrative you were causing, intentionally, these animals to fight and that caused injuries and/or death to not just the foxes and badgers but to your own dogs.”
Martin has since signed ownership of the dogs over to the SSPCA, which has rehomed them.
Sentencing | 175 hours of unpaid work. Banned from keeping or working with dogs for just five years (expires December 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | former head gamekeeper David John Scott, born c. 1989, of Bridgehaugh, Dufftown, Keith AB55 4DS – kept 14 dogs in appalling conditions at the home he shared with wife Gillian Elizabeth Scott.
David Scott, a former gamekeeper, admitted neglecting 14 dogs with additional charges relating to dog fighting and setting a dog on a snared fox were dropped. Photo credit: Press & Journal
Scott admitted a catalogue of animal welfare offences in relation to 14 neglected dogs.
The Crown accepted a not guilty plea from his wife, Gillian Scott.
The court heard Scott had been head gamekeeper at Cabrach and Glenfiddich Estates until the raid on his home in September 2022.
Fiscal depute Karen Poke said the Scottish SPCA’s special investigation unit had received a tip-off about the welfare of animals being kept by the Scotts during August 2022 and attended the scene with police.
Wife Gillian Scott escaped punishment after her not guilty plea was accepted by the court
There they found three “wet, extremely dirty” and “totally unacceptable” kennel blocks, each without any sleeping areas for the dogs.
Ms Poke said: “There was a strong smell of faeces and urine abundant throughout the kennels,
“There were no dry areas for the dogs to lie down and no evidence of any dog food.”
The officers found a barrel full of rotten meat and fish it was suggested this is what the dogs were being fed.
All 14 dogs were removed to the care of the SSPCA and were said to have been “suffering and in distress”.
Scott admitted causing unnecessary suffering and pain to dogs by not seeking veterinary treatment or providing them with essential care.
Photo credit: Press & Journal
As part of a plea bargain, a not guilty plea to a charge that Scott trained a male black and tan dog called Boysie to fight and supplied videos of his brawls was accepted by the Crown.
The dog-fights were said to have taken place at the home address.
Another offence, whilst at Cabrach and Glenfiddich Estate on July 13 2022, of snaring a fox and letting his dog attack it, was also dropped.
The 14 neglected dogs included:
Ellie, a female harrier-type dog, who suffered an ear mite infection for weeks without getting treatment.
Babatoots, a female spaniel who also had infected ears and gums for weeks without medical help.
Toots, another female spaniel who suffered from infections of the ears and gums.
Sadie, a female spaniel who had chronic ear infections and conjunctivitis.
Defence counsel Callum Anderson said the couple had been going through a “difficult period” in their lives at the time of the police raid. He said Scott had accepted the conditions were “awful” and said the kennels had become so wet due to a “torrential storm” the night before.
Mr Anderson said Mrs Scott still owns two dogs as family pets and said the lapse was due to “dramatic circumstances”, including the death of her father and a medical issue around the date of the offences.
“They accept they were not dealing with matters at that time. That is the reason why veterinary treatment was neglected,” he said.
Scott had lost his position as head gamekeeper after the raid and had been “demoted sideways”, whilst still earning a salary of £40,000 plus accommodation worth £15,000 per annum.
“He recognises it was not acceptable and lessons have been learned,” Mr Anderson said.
On sentencing, Sheriff Robert McDonald said Scott had “failed to keep a grip” on his animals, adding: “No matter how bad your life is, your animals still need looking after.
“The dogs don’t care. If things are tough, you should make arrangements for them.
“I am conscious of your employment and that you may be around dogs when out on a shoot. I have the power to impose a custodial sentence or a £20,000 fine.
“However, I have taken this into account and take a serious view and will impose a fine.”
Sentencing | fined £1,275. Banned from owning more than two dogs for just three years (expires September 2026).
CONVICTED (2023) | Moy Estate gamekeeper Rory Parker, born c. 1998, of Drumbain Cottage, Moy, Tomatin, Inverness IV13 7XW – shot and killed a protected bird of prey in a pre-meditated attack.
Rory Parker was fined £1,575 after he admitted shooting a sparrowhawk on the notorious grouse-shooting Moy Estate, which is owned by Celia Mackintosh but leased out to an unnamed tenant.
In a video filmed by an RSPB Scotland investigations team, Parker was seen firing two shots into the air as the bird, a protected species, flew overhead at Tom Na Slaite, Ruthven, on 16 September 2021.
The video shows a plastic “decoy” owl on a fence post, which the RSPB said was most likely being used to attract birds of prey.
Parker, who is stood near the owl, can be seen to raise a gun and fire two shots, before scrambling over moorland to collect a bird which is clearly still alive but injured enough that it cannot escape.
Raptor Persecution provide commentary on what happened next. They wrote: “{Parker is] calm and proficient as he stamps his foot/knee on the bird to crush it, before casually picking it up and retuning to his hiding place in the bush. It appears to be quite routine and he does not look at all disturbed at having just committed a serious wildlife crime.”
The land where the sparrowhawk was shot is used for pheasant and partridge shoots and is managed by a tenant of the Moy Estate.
The court heard police recovered two shotgun cartridges and feathers from the site of the sparrowhawk shooting.
In court, Parker admitted the offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Mark Moir KC, defending, told Sheriff Sara Matheson that his client had been in his job since he left school.
Mr Moir said: “He is deeply shameful of what he has done. He has brought the estate into disrepute and has now resigned.
“His firearms certificate is likely to be revoked as a result of this conviction. He should have been shooting pigeons and crows that day. Feral pigeons are a problem on the estate.
“However, the sparrowhawk flew over and there was a rush of blood. He says it was a stupid thing to do.”
Sheriff Matheson told Parker Scotland’s birds of prey were precious and deserved protection.
Following sentencing, RSPB Scotland said that parker was the 56th gamekeeper to be convicted of raptor persecution offences in Scotland since 1990.
Ian Thomson, head of investigations, said: “This conviction was the end result of exemplary partnership working between Police Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Wildlife DNA Forensics team at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture and the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.”
He said the persecution of birds of prey was continuing in Scotland “unabated”.
A spokesman for the Moy Estate said they had suspended Parker from his position after being made aware of the “unacceptable” incident. The spokesman further added that they are committed to maintaining the highest standards of game management.
Despite this assertion, the Moy Estate is currently under licence restrictions imposed by NatureScot in June 2022 after the police provided “robust evidence” that birds had been killed or taken illegally on the land.
All birds of prey are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and killing them is against the law, punishable by an unlimited fine and/or jail.
Shooting estates such as Moy may target them, however, for fear that they will predate and kill young grouse or eat eggs, reducing their numbers and making shooting less profitable.
CONVICTED (2022) | Luke Rix, born October 1990, of Gilks Lane, Oxhill Warwick CV35 0QE – filmed himself hunting wildlife with dogs.
Rix admitted three offences following an investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA.
The animal welfare charity was contacted after videos and images were discovered on an iPad belonging to Rix by his former partner. They showed hunting and persecution of wild mammals using two dogs who were left injured as a result.
Inspectors from the RSPCA joined the officers from Gloucestershire Police when they carried out a warrant at an address in Broadwell Hill, Broadwell, Cheltenham GL56 0UE, where Rix’s phone was seized and his dogs examined by a vet.
A number of videos and photographs were found. One clip contained disturbing footage of Rix filming while two dogs – one being his dog Gunner – attacked a wild boar.
Rix can be heard to be encouraging the dogs saying “look at that boys – big pig – go on boys” and the dogs can be seen latched onto the neck area of the boar as it screams in pain and distress. The boar was already bleeding from a wound caused by Rix stabbing it.
Wildlife killer Rix also failed to care for his dog Gunner.
The vet who examined Gunner found he had a fracture of the upper right canine, missing upper incisors and had lower worn lower incisors and marked dental disease that was so severe the vet felt this would have caused pain for at least three years
Records showed he had not seen a vet since 2019, at which time Rix had been advised that the fractured tooth needed removing due to associated infection and dental disease was pointed out.
Following his rescue, Gunner had to have more than 20 teeth removed. In an interview, Rix said he had always hunted and had previously been a gamekeeper.
RSPCA solicitor Lindi Meyer, who represented the charity in court, said: “Other seized videos and photos showed dogs ripping apart a fox, dogs with injuries, terriers tormenting a caged rat, and discussions of boar, badger and fox hunting, and conversations with people on social media regarding his hunting exploits.
“Whilst not the subject of criminal charges, all this relevant background information found on his devices shows that the incident with the boar was not an isolated incident and shows he has used his dogs in other situations to set upon a wild animal and that this is a game to him which he will glorify by filming and bragging by distributing it. It also shows that he is prepared to put his dogs at risk.”
In mitigation, it was said Rix was going through a difficult time in his life because of the breakdown of a relationship and issues with his business.
Sentencing | Jailed for 18 weeks; £628 in costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2022) | gamekeeper Matthew Stroud, born c. 1976, of Keepers Cottage, Fengate, Weeting, Brandon IP27 0QF – illegally shot and poisoned birds of prey.
Stroud dosed dead pheasants with poison as bait to kill buzzards in woodlands near Weeting Heath and Breckland Forest, which are both protected sites.
Appearing at Norwich Magistrates Court he admitted shooting five buzzards and one goshawk, the poisoning of another buzzard, the laying of poison baits and illegal possession of poisons including strychnine.
He also became the first person convicted for the unauthorised release of game birds on a Special Protection Area (SPA).
Despite the gravity of his offences Stroud walked free from court with a paltry fine and a community sentence.
The court heard an investigation was launched when RSPB officers found a young pheasant dead in Belvedere Wood, Weeting, on August 19, 2021, that had been poisoned.
Police later also searched Stroud’s home where they found three dead buzzards that x-rays showed had been shot. Two pheasant carcasses with extremely high levels of strychnine and a poisoned common buzzard were found in Belvedere Wood, protected because of its internationally important population of stone curlews. His mobile phone was also found to contain photos of a dead goshawk and five dead buzzards.
Stroud, a self-employed gamekeeper at Fengate Farm, pleaded guilty to six counts of killing a common buzzard and of killing a northern goshawk, both protected species. He also admitted possessing four shotguns to kill wild birds, poison without a licence and storing poison incorrectly and releasing 3,400 pheasants into the wild contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Michael Horn, mitigating, said: “There has been a shoot in this area for over 300 years. In 2020 there were no shoots held for obvious reasons. The next year the defendant was, perhaps wrongfully and unlawfully, very keen to restart it.
“At the time these pheasants were being decimated by these buzzards. His livelihood was being decimated.”
Mark Thomas, head of RSPB Investigations UK, said: “It is difficult not to be disappointed with the outcome today considering the significance of the offences and combined efforts of the agencies involved.
“Laying poison baits out in the open is not only illegal but extremely dangerous and irresponsible.
“Baits like those being used at Fengate Farm present a deadly risk to any animal or person that might come across it. It is particularly troubling that this was happening on an SPA, a designated area where wildlife and nature should have the highest legal protection.”
PC Chris Shelley, Norfolk police rural crime officer, said: “This investigation is one of the biggest cases of its kind that we have dealt with in Norfolk. “Stroud’s actions were dangerous and inhumane – he shot and poisoned birds of prey as he saw fit, and at will, because it suited him to do so.
“He also used a highly dangerous poison – one that has been banned in the UK for the last 15 years – indiscriminately, which could have had a disastrous effect on other local wildlife and showed a scant disregard for the safety of others.”
In a statement the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) said: “There is no space for illegality in the countryside, nor in the shooting community.
“BASC has a zero-tolerance approach to the illegal killing of birds of prey. Shooting’s contribution to conservation efforts and the rural economy is too great to allow the criminal actions of a tiny minority jeopardise the ongoing benefits.
“Positively, these cases are becoming rarer and population levels of most UK birds of prey are at record highs, much of this is down to the conservation efforts of shooting interests.”
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work; fined £692.
CONVICTED (2022) | Rhys Owen Davies, born 12 December 1993, of Bwthyn Grug, Llanbedrog, Pwllheli LL53 7HN – kept five dogs for animal fighting and failed to treat their injuries.
Davies, who has now returned to his home town of Llanbedrog in North Wales, admitted keeping and training five Patterdale Terriers to fight animals, as well as failing to seek veterinary treatment for two which had sustained injuries from fighting.
Davies, a former gamekeeper at the Millden shooting estate* in Glenesk, Brechin, Angus DD9, also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his firearms licence by having unsecured firearms and ammunition in his then home in Turnabrae House.
Davies kept trophy photos of dogs he used to fight and bait wild animals
The court heard that an employee of a photo print company contacted the SSPCA with serious concerns about the welfare of several dogs pictured in an order for 58 images placed by Davies.
Many of the dogs showed progressively more serious facial injuries over the period the images were taken and several males posing and digging into what looked like badger setts or fox dens. There were numerous images showing dead foxes.
Many of the images showed injured dogs and dead foxes.One horrific image showed a terrier latched onto a bleeding badger
The SSPCA identified them as ‘trophy’ photographs showing a group of males engaging in the organised fighting and killing of wild animals over an extended period. Davies was easily identifiable in many of the images.
Inspectors from the SSPCA and officers from Police Scotland went to Davies’ home in Brechin with a warrant on the morning of October 8, 2019. Police found a Benelli shotgun propped against a wall near the front door, two rifles were also found, a Tikka .243 rifle on the sofa and a CZ rifle in the hall cupboard next to the open gun cabinet.
An assortment of ammunition, including 23 bullets in a pot on the floor, five in a carrier bag behind the front door and one on top of a bed were seized by police.
Davies was pictured alongside others posing after digging into fox dens or badger setts.
Eleven dogs were found within kennels on the property. Five Patterdale Terrier dogs had obvious signs of injury.
Two of the terriers, Lola and Tuck, had fresh injuries. Lola’s were to her mouth and lower jaw and Tuck had part of his lower face missing and fresh injuries which produced an obvious smell when near the dog. There were also healing wounds to his forelegs.
All the dogs were taken to Scottish SPCA facilities for examination and treatment.
Inspectors found equipment on the property linked to illegal animal fighting including, locator collars, medication, needles and syringes and a staple gun used to staple up injuries.
Badger DNA was found on a red locator collar following forensic examination.
Photobooks were recovered from the property like the print order placed by Davies.
The dogs had been used repeatedly for fighting, resulting in serious disfigurement
Davies was interviewed under caution and admitted that the dogs had not received veterinary treatment in the time that he had owned them. He denied using the dogs to fight or kill foxes or badgers and claimed they had sustained injury from legal ratting and foxing.
Davies agreed to sign all the terrier dogs over to the Scottish SPCA for rehoming.
The injured dogs were examined by specialist vets. Their expert opinion was that the dogs had been kept for the purposes of animal fighting and their injuries were sustained from face-to-face combat with badgers or foxes.
Another dog is left disfigured after being trained to fight badgers and foxes for the entertainment of her sick owner
Davies’ phone was seized during the search and images of him engaged in digging activities and the dogs with fresh wounds were found. There were also numerous conversations with associates referencing digging activities and sharing photographs showing dogs pulling badgers out of setts.
A number of voice messages with associates were also found where they discussed digging with the dogs. In one message, Davies’ asks an individual about the size of photographs to print to make a digging album. Davies states, “And if I do get the knock for it at least everything’s all in the one place for them to find”.
GPS location data from Davies’ phone also placed him in two rural locations on 21 September 2019 where he was found to have had a conversation with the same associate about meeting to bait and later that night his associate sent an image of Davies standing in a large hole holding one of the terrier dogs.
Speaking after the sentencing, Karon Rollo, Head of the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of COPFS said: “Animal fighting is a cruel illegal activity which causes terrible and unnecessary suffering to animals.
“The evidence clearly shows the scope of the involvement Rhys Davies had with an organised group that took pleasure in killing wild animals in such a wicked and inhumane manner.
“I welcome the sentence and the granting of the order preventing him from keeping animals for 15 years. I would like to thank Police Scotland and the Scottish SPCA for their part in investigating and gathering evidence of these offences.
“Hopefully this prosecution and the sentence will serve as a message to others who would cause such suffering that there are consequences and that they will be held to account for their actions and could also lose their liberty.
“COPFS will continue to work to ensure those who participate in these barbaric practices are prosecuted and would encourage anyone who may have information on animal fighting to contact Police Scotland or the Scottish SPCA.”
Sentencing | eight months in prison; £1,800 fine for firearms offences. Banned from owning or keeping animals for 15 years.
*The Millden Estate is one of a number of shooting estates in the Angus Glens. According to the insightful blog Raptor Persecution UK, the estate is “long- known amongst conservationists as a raptor persecution hotspot” where in 2009 a poisoned golden eagle named Alma was found, with a golden buzzard meeting a similar fate in the same year.
Another blogger, former police officer Alan Stewart aka the Wildlife Detective, described a “catalogue of criminality” taking place on the estate, with incidents including a working collie being poisoned in 2006. He continues:
Around the same time the eggs of a nesting hen harrier disappeared and two fresh shotgun cartridge cases were found near the nest. Despite DNA tests on the cartridge cases and the shotguns of the keepers being taken for comparison with the mark on the cartridge cases made by the firing pin no charges could be brought.
… in 2009 a dead otter was found in a fox snare.
In 2010 an egg tray and nitrile gloves, all with traces of pesticide, were recovered buried on the estate. It is likely that eggs baited with pesticide had been set out.
In 2011 a buzzard was seen being shot. The person doing the shooting drove off in a Land Rover. Neither the vehicle nor the person shooting could be identified. Despite a search on a rocky hill face, we were unable to recover the dead buzzard.
In 2012 … a satellite-tagged golden eagle probably caught in a spring trap, mysteriously moved overnight from Millden Estate and was found dumped, still alive and with two broken legs, on Deeside.
No one has ever been prosecuted for any of these alleged offences and Millden Estate has denied any responsibility.
On 1 November 2022 the Daily Record published an article revealing Rhys Davies’ links to other convicted wildlife persecutors Anthony Holloway (who’s also involved in dog fighting) and Liam Taylor.
CONVICTED (2019) | Jamie Chapman Cole, born 27 September 1996, of Pond Farm Close, Saltburn-by-the-Sea TS13 5HJ – for the starvation and neglect of his cocker spaniel dog
Jamie Cole’s dog Blue was described as shockingly thin, but the gamekeeper was not banned from keeping animals.
Vets estimated that gamekeeper Jamie Cole had neglected and starved his 10-month-old dog, known as Blue, for three to four weeks.
On 4 February 2019 Cole, who at the time was based at a farm near Minsterley in Shropshire, took Blue to the Malthouse Veterinary Group in Shrewsbury complaining of diarrhoea.
Vets there found her to have sunken eyes, a low body temperature, weighing only 6kgs and unable to stand on her own for long.
RSPCA prosecutor Roger Price told the court that a healthy body temperature for dogs would be between 38 and 39.2 degrees and the vet who assessed Blue used a thermometer that would only go as low as 32, which indicated that her temperature was at or below that threshold.
Blue was taken in and placed on a bed with a heat lamp to try and raise her body temperature, and ate “ravenously” when fed, Mr Price said.
Blue’s condition improved and she was seen on February 6 by another vet at Taylor & Marshall.
That vet described Blue as “shockingly thin” and said she was likely to have been in her condition for three to four weeks.
She had been suffering with a “large amount” of roundworms as well, Mr Price said.
Her condition continued to improve in the vets’ care and she gained weight.
The court heard that Cole was an experienced handler of dogs, and that several other dogs he had responsibility for at the time were healthy and happy.
Cole’s representative Georgia Griffiths told the magistrates: “This is a man who’s incredibly upset with what’s happened. He feels terrible in himself for letting it happen, and letting the dog down and himself down.”
Being a gamekeeper was a “lifelong dream” and he had always had a good relationship with dogs, she said, but after his failure to care for Blue he has given up his other dogs and his job voluntarily and moved to be with his family in Yorkshire.
“His dream has been squashed by his own actions but he wasn’t malicious, and he didn’t do it on purpose.”
Chair of the bench Lesley Thirlwell said: “You were proactive in giving up your job, your animals and changing your lifestyle completely.
“We feel that that was punishment over and above the punishment the courts were going to make.
“You have shown remorse and already changed your lifestyle, and that has convinced us you will not be acquiring any dog in the near future.”
Sentencing | community order including 80 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay £485. Deprivation order on Blue but no ban on keeping animals was imposed by the court.
CONVICTED (2019) | gamekeeper Alan P Wilson, born c. 1958, of Henlaw Cottage, Longformacus, Duns TD11 3NT – killed dozens of wildlife on Longformacus Estate
Gamekeeper Alan Wilson from Duns in the Scottish Borders kept a kill list and dumped 1000 animals into a stink pit designed to attract birds of prey and other animals, which Wilson is suspected of shooting.
Wilson admitted nine charges including killing goshawks, buzzards, badgers and an otter.
The offences were committed on the Longformacus Estate in the Borders between March 2016 and June 2017.
One source said that Alan Wilson was hellbent on killing anything that moved
The court ruled Wilson was responsible for the deaths of numerous wildlife, including protected species. Investigators found animal corpses including otters, badgers, foxes, birds of prey and more when they searched Henlaw Wood in 2017.
A captive eagle owl which the Scottish SPCA suspects was being used as a live lure on birds of prey who were subsequently shot and killed was also discovered at Wilson’s residence. In 2018, Wilson was fined £400 and banned from keeping birds of prey for ten years for failing to ensure the welfare of the eagle owl.
After an investigation which involved experts from the Scottish SPCA’s special investigation unit (SIU), RSPB and Police Scotland, Wilson was found to have used techniques including illegally set snares and unlawful items such as banned pesticides and gin traps to trap and kill wildlife.
A land inspection also found ‘stink pits’, where dead animal carcasses are left to attract other wildlife. These ‘stink pits’ were surrounded by illegally set snares. Animal remains, including mammal skulls, were recovered.
investigators believe Wilson slaughtered thousands more animals.
One source claimed he was hell-bent on killing “everything that moved” except game birds on the estate that were being bred to be shot by wealthy clients.
One kill list found in Wilson’s home catalogued 1,071 dead animals – including cats, foxes, hedgehogs and stoats.
Sheriff Peter Paterson said the offences merited a jail term but he felt he was unable to impose one due to guidelines against short-term sentences.
“The sentencing options open to me at the moment do not reflect society’s views,” he added.
The court was told Wilson had pledged to no longer work as a gamekeeper and was now employed cutting trees.
Police welcomed the sentencing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court at the end of what they called a “complex inquiry” which had been a “large-scale” investigation.
“The illegal killing of birds of prey and protected species cannot, and will not, be tolerated, nor will the inhumane use of illegal traps and pesticides,” said Det Con Andy Loughlin.
An undercover Scottish SPCA investigator described it as a “despicable case of serious and systematic crimes to indiscriminately remove wildlife from an estate”.
“The sheer volume of dead wildlife discovered is truly shocking,” the investigator added.
“We will never know the total number of animals which perished due to Mr Wilson, though had it not been for the robust intervention of Police Scotland, the Scottish SPCA and our other partner agencies, many more would have suffered and perished.”
Sara Shaw, head of the Crown Office’s wildlife and environmental crime unit, said Wilson’s actions amounted to a “campaign of deliberate criminality”.
Duncan Orr-Ewing of RSPB Scotland called it an “absolutely appalling incident involving the illegal killing of a range of protected wildlife.”
Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture wildlife forensic scientist Dr Lucy Webster said the investigation had been an “excellent example” of partnership working to “bring a prolific wildlife criminal to justice”.
Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports, described it as “one of the worst wildlife crime incidents in recent years”.
A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said Wilson’s actions were “unacceptable” and “entirely out of step” with conduct it expected from its members.
He said Wilson’s SGA membership would be terminated immediately.
Sentencing: 225 hours of unpaid work; restriction of liberty order.
CONVICTED (2019) | wildlife persecutor and dog killer Daniel John William Brockley, born 24 March 1989, of 6 Bury, Dulverton TA22 9NE – allowed his terrier to work underground endangering his safety.
Brockley, who is employed as a gamekeeper by shoot management firm Loyton LLP based at the Haddeo Estate in the Exe valley, was found guilty after a two day trial.
He was also charged with an offence of intent to kill, injure or take a badger but was found not guilty as ‘beyond reasonable doubt’
In August 2018 the RSPCA, police and DEFRA carried out a raid at Brockley’s home and seized mobile phones. Text messages between Brockley and head keeper Alan Floyd referred to digging for vixens, fox cubs and badgers.
Images on Brockley’s phone showed a dog named Henry who had suffered horrific facial injuries. Vets said the nature of Henry’s wounds were consistent with badger fighting.
The court heard that on three separate occasions – January 18, 2017, 19 May, 2017 and January 30 2019 – Brockley had put a Patterdale terrier named Rock at risk of injury by forcing him to work underground.
According to the RSPCA, photos showing Rock’s de-gloved lower jaw – where skin has been removed as a result of an injury – and text messages about his condition were shared by Brockley.
A text message from January 2017 said “Dug Rock again tonite!” and was accompanied by a photo on Brockley’s phone of a locator receiver showing a depth of 0.8m.
In May 2017 Brockley texted a picture of Rock with full degloving injury of his lower jaw and wrote: “This is the last time I dug him last May…I’ve not worked him since coz had to revive him after that one”.
A witness told the court that Rock had died after being shot and disposed of by Brockley “to try and cover his back”.
There was evidence that other dogs had died in similar circumstances while in the care of Daniel Brockley.
Magistrates decided against banning Brockley from keeping animals as he has had many dogs in the past, Rock was described as being otherwise kept well and was well loved, and a ban would lead to Brockley losing his livelihood and accommodation.
Sentencing: 140 hours of unpaid work; total of £2,335 costs and charges.
