The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has strongly condemned the illegal killing of a buzzard after a gamekeeper was convicted at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court.
Thomas Munday, 35, pleaded guilty to killing the buzzard and was fined at Scarborough Magistrates Court on Monday.
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A covertly deployed RSPB camera caught the former gamekeeper brutally beating a protected buzzard to death inside a cage trap set in woodland near Hovingham, last March.
The footage showed Mundy entering the trap and striking the buzzard with a stick, killing it, then tossing it into the front of an all-terrain vehicle and leaving.
The BASC said that the individual convicted was not a member of the organisation, and that behaviour of this nature by any member would result in immediate expulsion.
BASC’s chief executive Ian Bell said: “The illegal killing of a buzzard is a serious criminal act and we unequivocally condemn it. This sort of behaviour has no place in the shooting community.
“This individual was not a BASC member, but if they had been, they would have faced expulsion. BASC has a zero-tolerance approach to wildlife crime and to anyone who brings shooting into disrepute through illegal or unethical behaviour.
“The overwhelming majority of keepers and land managers understand and follow the law.”
BASC said wildlife crime undermines conservation, damages public confidence and harms the reputation of responsible shooting and land management.
North Yorkshire Police said following the recording of the incident the RSPB passed the evidence to North Yorkshire Police and an investigation was launched by the force’s Rural Taskforce, supported by the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
As part of the investigation, North Yorkshire Police officers conducted a search warrant at an address, and a number of items were seized and forensically examined. These items included a stick believed to have been used to kill the buzzard, and swabs taken from the cab area of an ATV.
The Forensic Analysis Fund provided full funding to analyse the stick and swabs for DNA. Both later tested positive for Common Buzzard DNA.
Munday, of Gillamoor, attended an interview at Malton Police Station, where he admitted the offence and expressed remorse for his actions.
At Scarborough Magistrates Court, he pleaded guilty to killing the buzzard, an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. He was fined £807, and ordered to pay a surcharge of £323 and costs of £85.
Inspector Mark Earnshaw, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce, said: “In the UK, all wild birds are protected by law.
“If you come across a dead bird or suspicious object, this could be a wildlife crime scene. Every piece of information may be crucial in helping us to prosecute an offender.
“As this case shows, we will take robust and effective action to identify perpetrators and put them before the courts.”
The investigation was also supported by crime scene investigators at Yorkshire and the Humber Regional Scientific Support Services (RSSS), as well as the Wildlife DNA Forensic Unit (part of the Chemistry, Molecular Biology and Wildlife Section) at Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA).
The Forensic Analysis Fund (FAF) offers financial support to police and customs officers seeking to carry out forensic analysis during a wildlife crime investigation - using funds donated from government departments and non-government organisations.
The fund has been established to encourage the use of forensic techniques to help solve wildlife crimes and comes under the banner of the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW). Many wildlife cases which make use of forensic analysis would otherwise have failed to reach prosecution stage or be eliminated at an early stage.
Founded in 2008, the scheme has already provided money to help support over 60 cases.
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