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Gamekeeper fined for threatening to kill hen harrier on moors
Racster Dingwall pleaded guilty to encouraging killing protected hen harriers and was fined £1,520 in North Yorkshire, where over 100 birds disappeared in five years.
- On Thursday, Racster Dingwall pleaded guilty at York Magistrates' Court and was ordered to pay £1,520 in fines, victim surcharge and costs.
- The RSPB's covert camera recorded three men on Grassington Moor discussing shooting wild birds, amid more than 100 confirmed or suspected hen harrier losses near commercial driven grouse shoots.
- Forensic technicians found Racster Dingwall wore camouflage and possessed a semi-automatic shotgun solely to kill a hen harrier, while North Yorkshire Police Rural Taskforce overheard him speaking in code on radio about shooting birds and avoiding detection.
- Prosecutors said this sets a legal precedent as the first use of the Serious Crime Act 2007 for bird-of-prey persecution, and District Judge Adrian Lower ruled Racster Dingwall will never work as a gamekeeper again.
- RSPB investigators said video evidence secured the conviction but urged government legislative change to protect hen harriers and ensure their future.
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Former gamekeeper sentenced over plot to kill protected Hen Harrier
Now to what police say it is a legal first in England, and so does the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Racster Dingwall, former head gamekeeper at the Coniston and Grassington estate in North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty today to two charges of encouraging the persecution of a bird of prey. The law has not been used in this way before. The case also rested on secret filming and audio obtained by the RSPB which had a battle to get it admi…
·London, United Kingdom
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left1Leaning Right2Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
13%
C 62%
R 25%
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