Gamekeep fined for shooting an Owl. - Congratulations Phil Briggs!!

[Gill Catton]

So there I was, belatedly reading the latest 'legaleagle' (the RSPB's quaterly magazine detailing matters relating to wildlife crime), and there was an article about a short-eared owl being shot by a gamekeeper (and not even a good shot the owl was found by onlookers and it died later on) and our very own Phil Briggs was called as the local Wildlife Liason Officer who not only scrambled a helicopter search within minutes to find the offender but also managed to secure a conviction for the offender
Congratulations!

These things so often slip through the net or fail to come to court so pleased to read of this man being brought to book. Of course my level of punishment for this man would've been significantly greater, but then I'm not a judge.

[Wild-Woman]

Yeah I read that and sent congrats to Phil. Good man. ww

[Alan]

We could do with a lot more Phil's about that's for sure!

[eeyore]

I think we can all agree on that - top man Phil, its a shame that the punishment was so light though. The laws to deal with this kind of thing are in place but judges rarely enforce them fully.

For instance they could have lifted his firearms licence - that would have been a stiff punishment for a gamekeeper and ensured he didnt do it again.

Just to clarify I'm not tarring all keepers with the same brush, I have many good freinds in the proffesion and they love wildlife as much as I do.

If you want a good read about wildlife crime investigation I heartily recomend "baiting the trap" by Tony Sherbourne - undercover investigative officer for the RSPCA