Assets Seized From Badger Sett Diggers
News Article, Richmondshire, North Yorkshire
Article By: Dave Roberts
First Published: 5 December 2011
Two men from County Durham have been ordered to pay substantial court costs and had assets seized after being found guilty of disturbing a badger sett in Richmondshire.
During sentencing at Northallerton Magistrates' Court, James Linsley, 27, from Barnard Castle and Ian Blakey, 33, from Crook, were instructed to pay £775 each and were sentenced to 80 hours unpaid community work.
Magistrates also ordered the destruction of their poaching equipment including dog collar transmitters and receivers and a metal spike. The court also recommended that the Skoda Octavia car used by Linsley to get to the scene of the crime be permanently forfeited.
Linsley and Blakey, who were found guilty following an earlier two day hearing, were arrested on 14 March 2011 when they were spotted digging a badger sett at Bolton Grange, Bolton on Swale.
Officers found that the entrance to the sett had been dug into and the men were also in possession of terriers and dog collar transmitters and locators.
Badgers are protected species and North Yorkshire Police say they are determined to ensure that anyone who persecutes them, or any other wildlife in the county will be robustly dealt with.
PC John Wilbor, of Richmond Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: "This is a very satisfying result as a lot of time and effort goes into proving cases of this nature.
"Instead of pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity, Linsley and Blakey chose to take up the valuable time of the court service. It is therefore pleasing that they will now have to pay for their crimes with their own time and money.
"I hope their sentences send a strong message to other criminals who are thinking of coming to North Yorkshire to prey on protected species and our rural communities in general. We will not tolerate their behaviour and neither will our residents and the dedicated members of Rural Watch, who do a great job in assisting us with tackling rural crime."
Meanwhile, according to the RSPB, North Yorkshire is the worst place in England for bird of prey poisoning. In a recent report the RSPB said: In the UK’s uplands, particularly on land managed for intensive grouse shooting, illegal persecution remains unacceptably common. The RSPB’s Birdcrime report 2010 shows the highest number of reported incidents against birds of prey and owls was 54 in North Yorkshire.
Find related articles: Badger Sett | Crime | Richmondshire
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