From Rob Cooke, Natural England’s Director of Terrestrial Biodiversity:
‘Natural England is extremely disappointed to hear of the recent case in Yorkshire in which three pole traps were set. We strongly condemn the use of these barbaric, indiscriminate traps, which have been outlawed for more than a century, and urge anyone who has evidence of their use to contact the police as soon as possible.’.
From the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Julia Mulligan:
‘Thank you very much for taking the time to contact our office.
Wildlife crime is something Julia Mulligan takes very seriously, both as Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire and as Chair of the National Rural Crime Network.
In this case, Julia has asked North Yorkshire Police about their actions and questioned how such cases fall into the remit of our new Rural Crime Task Force, which has just been established and includes specialist wildlife crime officers.
Moreover, North Yorkshire Police is currently reviewing the caution of the individual involved in the case, but it would be inappropriate for Julia intervene in this decision or operational policing more widely. We have been reassured that North Yorkshire Police will update the public on the review once it has been completed.
You may also be interested that Julia has established an ‘Out of Court Disposal Panel’, which assess the use of Out of Court Disposals, of which a caution is one. Whilst the Panel is not a review or appeal body, cautions in relation to wildlife crime might be something they look into to identify any wider issues.
Please be assured Julia is aware of the strength of feeling regarding wildlife crime and will continue to prioritise this work in North Yorkshire. In particular, I am sure the benefits of the new rural crime task force will be keenly felt in the months and years ahead.‘.
From the pen of Stuart Winter, this piece in the Daily Express online.
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Moorland Association has now commented on this case. Their statement includes the following: “The owner of the estate where this gamekeeper worked is a member of the Moorland Association. He has made it clear that neither he nor his head gamekeeper knew anything of this illegal and totally unacceptable activity by a junior employee.”
Well it’s nice to know that they consider this activity to be totally unacceptable but this does rather raise the question of why a junior employee would be going off setting traps off his own bat and where he got his traps from. Was he pursuing a personal vendetta against birds of prey or, more probably, did he think he was doing what was required of him? At best this smacks of extremely poor supervision of a junior employee and ineffective communication of the requirements of the job, at worst it is a convenient sacrificing of the junior man to protect his bosses. I guess we will all have to form our own conclusions as to which is more likely.
These troublesome juniors! Not just setting traps but secretly installing posts for the purpose – so devious.
And the “junior”…probably bought the posts and traps himself and never put the costs through the estate books….. no audit trail there?
And the senior keeper was so blind that he never noticed a line of stobs on his moor? They dont like new posts- I thought these “professionals” knew their ground like the back of their hand? Sounds like his eyesight is so bad its time his shotgun certifficate was revoked.
So is he being fired? If not, why not?
And if he is fired, it will be interesting to see where he next finds work. With a chum of the Van Cutsem family perhaps, as a thank you for being the fall guy? Clearly the man should never be allowed a job working with wildlife on our uplands or anywhere else for that matter. Seems we should have a database of these wildlife offenders to keep track of them. Some sort of ankle bracelet too perhaps…
Effectively they are saying that the moorland association has no set standards of estate management, command or control…. they or their members can not be held responsible for anything that happens on a shooting estate. Effectively it comes accross as a private gentlemens club that is completely detached from reality.
As such it can talk about issues and ideas, but it has no means of ensuring standards of delivery…. its a front only. How can it therefore claim to be able to deliver reform and standards, how can it engender trust?
It doesnt, and we cant let the fate of our fragile upland habitats rest on the blind hope that this organisation can make a difference.
Where are these traps coming from, who is making them, are they made in the UK? Surely if they have been illegal for all these years then their manufactore should have been banned, if they are imported then why can’t that activity be banned. Why aren’t the police following this up?
I had exactly the same response, word for word, from Julia Mulligan’s office. I wonder how many complaints they’ve had and whether such a volume was at all unusual.
Plainly obviously that junior has been put there as “fall guy” in order to keep the fact covered up. They’re all depraved & deserve the same treatment they’re dishing out willy-nilly all over the places it doesn’t suit them while police numbers are reduced to a level where they become ineffective to society. So these iconic birds get less protection where they actually need more.
I thought ignorance was no excuse? Need Vicarious liability now or preferably sooner!
Come to think of it, where did this “junior employee” get hold of these pole traps? Did he bring them in from home? Really?
Has an amnesty for pole traps, illegal poisons etc. ever been tried? In the same way inner city police forces resort to amnesties for knives and firearms. Obvious arguments against this as a’concession’ which I’d entirely sympathise with, but if it got large numbers of these barbararic devices out of circulation might it be a small step forward? What do others think?
Watching with interest/Chris Green…’Pole trap’ is the name given to a trap set on a pole. The trap itself is a legal Mk4 Fenn trap. They are legal to use as long as they are protected/covered so as not to catch non-target species. The practice of using them on top of a fence post is illegal and has been for many years (and should carry a much much heavier penalty than a caution!)
Just to clarify things traps like this (I’m no expert but it looks like a Fenn Trap or variant thereof) remain legal for trapping grey squirrels, mink, rabbits, stoats, weasels, rats and mice. However, to be lawful they must always be used within a tunnel (natural or artificial), well within a burrow or within a wire cage. Only by placing one uncaged on top of a post does it become an illegal “pole trap”. A ‘keeper would have ready access to Fen traps so possession of a trap like this (unlike the gin trap that has been illegal since 1958) would be neither unusual or illegal. This, of course, in no way mitigates the offence. Without exception all of the suppliers of such traps I checked online carry clear warnings regarding the law (partly, I suspect, because they’re keen to sell purpose-made cages in which to place them). I’m pretty sure every game keeping course in the land will make the same point. Naturally, one would expect every responsible employer to reinforce this instruction before junior keepers are let lose to set traps. If not it’s a clear dereliction of duty and if they did so but were ignored it would be equally clear grounds for instant dismissal. This is why the suspension continuing beyond the admission of guilt is so revealing.
Which ever way you look at this it ABSOLUTELY STINKS BIG TIME ! How on Earth as a Junior managed to get hold of these Banned Traps and Set and Reset them without the head or any other under keepers knowledge ! This estate as been put in such an embarrassing situation that this junior has had to be the sacrificial lamb,and carry the can,it’s probably their only option left !!
See my comment above – the traps themselves are legal, it’s only the manner in which they were set up that’s against the law.
There is quite a record of junior employees getting caught, obviously not having the same skill as their seniors. One famous case in the Welsh Marches did, however, unravel up the food chain and a number of senior and craftier keepers were drawn in. I seem to remember the hugely embarrassed owner of the estate where the young keeper was caught paid for him to emigrate to Australia (seriously !). All very 19th C.
Here is a suggested (possible) timeline for the pole trap incident in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
6th May. 3 pole traps discovered by walker.
7th May. RSPB informed and start camera surveillance.
9th May. North Yorkshire police informed.
10th May North Yorkshire wildlife crime officers and other police happy to attend that day and take away the traps.
11th May. Senior police officer informs the estate, and asks for guidance.
12th May to 21st May. Wildlife crime officers removed from the equation, and senior officers take over. Estate and police agree a solution which involves the 23 year old attending to receive a caution, make a full and frank confession, and ensure that he is not asked questions such as:
Who instructed you to monitor or place the pole traps?
Were the pole traps in place when you first took over the responsibility for them?
Did the pole traps catch anything when you were monitoring them and what were you instructed to do with any birds caught, in particular with satellite tags and leg rings?
22nd May Employee attends and is cautioned.
23rd May. As the case is now solved, the traps are returned to the estate, thus ensuring that the species of bird caught cannot be identified from the remains of birds seen on the traps.
1st June. T/ACC Amanda Oliver says she will ask for a full review of the case, in particular the caution for such an offence.
30th June. Results of the full review are announced. A caution was entirely correct in this instance. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not aware of the full facts of the case, and the police involved were aware of the full facts. As a confession had been made, nothing more need be said.
John Cantelo/ Martin WW Thanks to you both, I wasn’t aware these were ordinary traps. That junior keeper is certainly fortunate or well protected, if anyone else had broken the law knowingly while doing their job they would have been sacked instantly. It would apply to me.
Likewise thanks from me.
It’s worth researching trap/snare legislation etc etc as you never know what you might come across (how many know what constitutes a legal vs illegally set Larsen trap?) I can imagine some folk seeing the ‘pole traps’ and not realising they are illegal as can I imagine people coming across tunnel traps and reporting them.
Knowledge is power (mebs!)
Martin – mebs?? You’re very down with the kids today!
I’m told that Game of Thrones has a good scene in it where the point is made that ‘power is power’ actually.
Many thanks for all your comments here – youa re approaching your century.