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Recent prosecutions

The following is a selection of some of the more interesting or important cases that have appeared before the courts recently.

Amphibians

Great Crested Newts

In June 2007, Taylor Woodrow Developments Limited based in Solihull, were fined £2,000 with £87 costs after pleading guilty to damaging or destroying a resting place of great crested newts at a development site in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex following a hearing at Harlow Magistrates Court.

The company were aware of the legally protected newts on their site and had been granted a licence by Natural England to enable ecologists to capture the newts to allow the development to go ahead. The captured newts were placed in a temporary reserve while new ponds were being created for them nearby. Once the ponds were suitable for the newts to live in they, and the temporary reserve, were to be joined to form a larger reserve.

However, in December 2006 a manager from the company instructed contractors to excavate the new ponds. The contractors drove machinery over special fencing which protected the newt reserve and placed soil from the excavation on top of where the newts had been released.

Wildlife Management Advisers from Natural England and the Force Wildlife Crime Officer for Essex Police visited the site after being informed by an ecologist working for the company. The visit confirmed a breach of the law and led to the successful prosecution.

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Badger cases

In November 2007 Craig Morrison of Dalry became the first person in Scotland to be convicted of badger baiting after he allowed his dog to attack two young badgers in a sett and maul them to death.

He was ordered by, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, to complete 175 hours of community service for the attack on 29 March. He was also ordered to pay £1,200 to the SSPCA in compensation and banned from keeping dogs for two years. In addition he was told to hand over hunting equipment he owned which included a tracking device that is used on dogs. Morrison previously admitted a total of three charges including one of cruelly ill-treating badgers by sending dogs into a sett.

Sheriff Seith Ireland said: "I must pass a sentence that punishes you and sends a message. The courts must do what they can to ensure that the law is obeyed."

On 27th June 2006 William Thomson, (43), from Dufftown appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court where he pled guilty to three charges under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 section 3(c), blocking a badger sett. His plea of not guilty to attempting to kill badgers was accepted. Thomson was fined £600 pound on each charge, £1800 in total.

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Bat cases

In October 2007 a man was fined £1,000 for destroying the roost of the pipistrelle and the brown long eared bat by Carmarthenshire Magistrates. The defendant was also ordered to pay £500 court costs, after pleading guilty to breaching the Conservation (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1994 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

A spokes-person from CCW said that “CCW is eager to work closely with the building industry and developers to achieve a balance between the interests of development and the protection of important species, and to avoid criminal offences taking place. However, we are grateful to the Crown Prosecution Service for pursuing this case and securing a successful outcome.”

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CITES specimens

On June 13 2008, Michael Elliot, an antiques dealer described as the mastermind of a successful ivory and whale-tooth smuggling operation was convicted of dealing in endangered species.  Elliot was part of an international network that took parts of protected animals from Africa for processing in China and then through Eastern Europe for sale in the West.

Detectives from Scotland Yard’s Wildlife Crime Unit spent three years working with the American authorities investigating the operation, which they believe had been shipping valuable items for a decade.

Elliot pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species Regulations and Customs offences. He disclaimed ownership of 18 ivory tusks, worth £50,000, and the charge was left on file. He was sentenced to a total of two years in prison, suspended for two years.

Elliot now faces prosecution in the United States, where he is suspected of organising ivory and sperm whale teeth smuggling from Britain. His operation was said to be the biggest of its kind detected in Britain and the US.

In June 2007, Keith Sweetman of Little Linford in Buckinghamshire pleaded guilty to two charges under Regulation 8 of COTES relating to the sale of two Moluccan cockatoos to a lady in Lincolnshire. Enquiries revealed anomalies with the Article 10 certificates Mr Sweetman used to sell the birds – one of which was a photocopy and therefore invalid – and put in doubt the individual identification of both birds. Mr Sweetman was given a conditional discharge for six months on each charge and ordered to pay £120 costs and £400 compensation to the buyer.

In January 2006, Dr Sian Lim, an avid orchid enthusiast from London, was charged with 13 counts of smuggling a total of 126 rare orchids (including aphiopedilum rothschildianum, sanderianum and gigantifolim) into the UK. Although pleading guilty to all charges, Dr Lim claimed he did not import for commercial purposes himself, and the majority of the plants were imported on behalf of others. The Judge, however, decided he was acting commercially and sentenced Dr Lim to four months imprisonment on each of 11 counts and three months on each of the two remaining counts – the sentences to run concurrently and with a recommendation he serves at least two months. This is the first custodial sentence for a CITES orchid smuggling case in the UK.

In July 2007 a further hearing ordered Lim to pay £110,331, the proceeds of his trade. He was also ordered to pay £15,000 in costs, including towards research by experts at Kew Gardens

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Eggs

Egg Collecting

Operation Easter: egg collectors

Since 1997 Tayside Police have been co-ordinating a nationwide operation targeted at the most determined egg collectors known to the police and RSPB. A considerable file has been amassed on over 100 egg collectors; intelligence which the police try to use in a proactive manner to catch egg thieves in the act or to recover their collections. On 29 March 2002, osprey eggs believed to have been taken from a nest in Scotland were seized by police as part of Operation Easter. Ospreys are a controlled species - there are currently only 140 pairs in Scotland.

Convictions resulting from this operation include:

  • Sheavils convicted in May 2001 regarding a collection of over 1200 eggs and fined £1500.
  • Thompson convicted May 2001 for taking common sandpiper and chaffinch eggs and fined £3,100.
  • Sheavils (again) convicted in June 2001 for possession of goshawk and goosander eggs. Sentenced to 4 months imprisonment - first person to be imprisoned under the CRoW Act 2000.

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Habitats

In January 2008, Wemmergill Moor Limited, based in North Yorkshire, were fined in total £50,000 by Durham Crown Court for causing damage to part of Lune Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Durham, and ordered to pay Natural England’s full costs of £237,548.99.

Wemmergill Moor Ltd pleaded guilty to three offences relating to the construction of a new track, car park and associated drainage, plus other damage to another route, without obtaining the necessary permission. The works resulted in damage to over 4433 square metres of internationally important peatland habitat which is also home to birds such as merlin and golden plover.

The Court imposed a Restoration Order requiring Wemmergill Moor Ltd to remove the track and car park for the purposes of restoring that part of the SSSI towards its former condition prior to the offence being committed. The defendants also gave a formal undertaking to the Court to carry out, at their own cost, additional works to reduce the overall impact of works associated with another track within the SSSI and to block an area of man-made drains 40kms in length to help improve the condition of the moorland.

Natural England welcomed the Judge’s observation that the Court will act to protect important sites such as this moor.

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General

Badger Sett interference using a Rodenator device

On 22 October 2008, Mr Botting from Kent appeared before magistrates at Canterbury Kent where he pleaded guilty to a charge of recklessly interfering with a badger sett in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, and was fined £1600 and required to pay costs of £1062.

In March 2008 dog walkers present in an area adjacent to a site known as Horseshoe Wood became aware of explosions from this location. They made contact with Botting who was present on the site and expressed concerns with regard to the welfare of badgers that they knew to be living in a sett within the Wood. Their description of the activities taking place confirmed that a ‘Rodenator’ or similar device was being used and that a number of tunnel entrances had been blocked with soil. Botting was reported to have informed the walkers that he was using the device to collapse rabbit burrows.

The matter was reported to the local police and in response, a visit to the site was undertaken by the local Wildlife Crime Officer and an Inspector from the RSPCA. Advice was then sought from the Wildlife Management & Licensing Team of Natural England. A further joint site inspection confirmed that badgers were active in the area and living in a sett present along the bank that forms this block of woodland. A number of entrances to the sett had been deliberately blocked with soil.

The ‘Rodenator’ and similar devices involve the introduction of a mixture of propane gas and oxygen into underground tunnels and burrows. This is then electronically ignited and it is claimed, that the subsequent shock wave will collapse these structures. However, it is illegal under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 to use explosives as a method of killing any animal species and so advice was previously issued by Natural England that to use these devices for pest control is likely to constitute an offence.

The prosecution stressed that the explosive effect on any badgers that were present in the sett would have been devastating and that this level of interference should be viewed as a serious matter.  The NFU solictor who defended Mr Botting, accepted that the evidence produced confirmed the presence of an active badger sett although the defendant and his staff denied having knowledge that badgers were living on the farm.

A statement by Natural England asks Rodenator users to heed the law
and is available at:

www.naturalengland.org.uk/conservation/wildlife-management-licensing

Illegal use of traps

In May 2008 Wyndham Morgan pled guilty in a case concerning the illegal use of a Larsen trap in the Abergavenny area.  Mr Morgan appeared at Cwmbran Magistrates Court on the 19 May 2008 where he pleaded guilty to two offences under the Wildlife and Countrsyidsed Act 1981 in relation to placing pigeons as decoy birds in a Larsen trap, after a Newton hearing he was given a conditional discharge plus £100 costs.

Dolphin disturbance

In April 2008, Michael Jukes and Daniel Buck were both found guilty of recklessy or intentionally disturbing a dolphin at Sandgate in Kent. The solitary dolphin had become a tourist attraction at Sandgate and the defenadants had swum out to the dolphin after attending a party at a friend's house. Both admitting touching the dolphin but believed it had enjoyed swimming with them.

In summing up Chairman of the Bench said that a number of experts had demonstrated the dolphins normal pattern of behaviour was disturbed.  Video evidence also showed the dolphin swimming towards the men head on and breaching the water, a sign of distress. Both men had refused to come out of the water even after the police ordered them out. Both were ordered to carry out 120 hours community service and ordered to pay £350 costs.

A report on solitary dolphins and whales including recommendations for their protection

Operation Charm

Illegal sale - Arowana fish

On Tuesday 5th August 2008 Mr Heng Low, a 54 year old businessman of, Ilford, Essex entered a plea of guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to two charges of selling Asian Arowana fish. He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £800 costs.

The Asian Arowana is an endangered species which is given the highest level of protection by CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. This means that this species can only be sold legally if a licence to permit this has been issued by the Animal Health department of Defra. Mr Low had licences permitting him to import the fish but these did not permit sale.

These offences were uncovered after enquiries by HM Revenue and Customs officers showed that Mr Low had imported a large number of fish over two years from Singapore, which amounted to a commercial operation.

In October 2007 police officers from Redbridge Borough, assisted by the Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit, and the national Wildlife Crime Unit, executed a search warrant at Mr Lows home address. Inside they found several tanks holding some 20 fish.

Mr Low was arrested and during his interview stated that he had the licences required to import the fish but also admitted that he did not have the licences required to permit them to be sold. Low stated that he had made about seven thousand pounds from the sale of Arowana fish.

Upon examination of computers that were seized, the scale of this operation became evident, with over 600 e-mails between Mr Low and customers, who had paid between £350 and £1200 per fish. There were also several advertisements offering these fish for sale.

Operation Charm was re-launched in November 2006 as a partnership between the Metropolitan Police, Greater London Authority, IFAW, WWF-UK, ACAP and the David Shepherd Foundation. For more information please see www.operationcharm.org

Page last modified 18 November 2008