anti poaching officer

finnbear270 said:
This may be the little acorn from which the oak might sprout.
I would like to think so but if the police around here are anything to go by, i don`t hold a lot of hope.
basil.
 
Even if the police do there job well the courts will not :evil:

Correct me if i'm wrong but I was under the impression that if you are caught poaching deer your vehicle is confiscated, you can receive up to a £4000 fine, your FAC revoked + weapons confiscated, and if its an off ticket weapon thats used, up tp 5 years inside.

Just to restore my faith in the justice system, someone on here please tell me they know of a case where this was so :rolleyes:

Max
 
Max said:
Even if the police do there job well the courts will not :evil:

Correct me if i'm wrong but I was under the impression that if you are caught poaching deer your vehicle is confiscated, you can receive up to a £4000 fine, your FAC revoked + weapons confiscated, and if its an off ticket weapon thats used, up tp 5 years inside.

Just to restore my faith in the justice system, someone on here please tell me they know of a case where this was so :rolleyes:

Max


...And the farmer will lose his single farm payment!!!
 
Max is correct.
Here in the North West we had a case recently when Police dealt with a suspected Deer poaching incident.
Men were arrested with blood stained clothing, a dog had blood on its jowls and after a search a dead Deer was found.
Samples were taken from all three sources for DNA testing and I understand that when the Police tried to take the case further they were told that no funds were available for the testing.
It must be frustrating for the Police when this is the outcome of a successful operation.

HWH.
 
new guy

Said chappy has written a piece at front of the Shooting Times. His brief seems to make a lot of sense and it miht allow him to make a difference if he can get through all the work!!
 
this is the said article from the shooting times 21/10/09 if you want to read it press Ctrl and either + or - and it will zoom in
shootingtimes.jpg
 
Not sure what to make of the whole 'anti-poaching officer' line.

Don’t get me wrong this could be a major step in what is obviously the right direction. But one man to cover the problem throughout the UK? (oh year along with the other officers spread across the UK dealing with Wildlife crime in general (anyone ever met one of these?)

- - Just can imagine his first day - arrives in new (old dusty unused office) - sits down -opens blinds, and then a knock at the door - 'sir we have a few files/cases for you to review' then for the next hour people unload stacks of cases on the floor all around him.

I think the guys will be swamped with information, half started cases, new cases which are just going to be passed over etc etc etc.

Part of me thinks that this is the police's answer to a huge out-cry from the shooting fraternity, but at the same time a PR exercise to hold back the wave of incidents being unanswered.

I've seen a few conclusions of recent cases brought before the courts and to be honest it’s just not worth the time and effort to give people a couple of hundred quid fine and let them keep their weapons/SGC/FAC.

I also think - and talking to a few Deer Managers they agree that not all game dealers, butchers and other channels of suppliers to the food industry are playing by the book. I think that there should be severe fines for suppliers not complying with policies and procedures and premises (food retailers- hotels/restaurants etc) should be closed down or loose licences. If you can't stop them poaching - you can do your up-most to stop people from selling illegal meat into food industry without the correct training and credentials to do so.

Its a two prong'd operation if you ask me - if you cut the demand the supply will stop.

JMHO

Tom

T
 
Perhaps more is going on than folk realise.

Here in Cumbria we have one coordinator and fourteen `Wildlife Crime Officers`.

At a recent meeting of our Red Deer Group one of these gentlemen spoke at great length and told us of their difficulty [ and frustrations ] in getting funds to follow up the incident I mentioned earlier in this thread.

HWH.
 
Perhaps more is going on than folk realise.

Here in Cumbria we have one coordinator and fourteen `Wildlife Crime Officers`.

At a recent meeting of our Red Deer Group one of these gentlemen spoke at great length and told us of their difficulty [ and frustrations ] in getting funds to follow up the incident I mentioned earlier in this thread.

HWH.
 
Stag sir,

then i think that is disgusting on the part of the police. The CPS recieve the file on the crime and make a decsion as to its 'legs' in court, legalities and manpower needed.

I'm sure if it would have been some urchin waving a knife a police outside a club in any major town the resource would have been found to see it through to fruition.

What you describe earlier is open/shut case and should be dealt with swiftly and quickly and publicly to riase awareness about the officers in the rural communities.

But there again l known an officer to be shot by Travellers with an air rifle - they were then followed by armed officers to a large camp in the Midlands and then sat outside the gates to scared to go in.

Just makes you wonder sometimes whether it is the higher powers that overlook the need for the policing in the rural areas and dismiss the crime or whether its a man-power/personal objections in a given area given the parties involved. I'm by no means stating that all deer poaching is committed by the travelling community as l know of two guys who used to get in their shooting truck and go into Woburn deer park and run down deer for their own tables.

I am appalled by anyone who thinks its ok to behave in such a way - like stated above l think our wild animals deserve the highest respect.

T
 
Just watched the Wildlife crime P.C. on crimewatch, a very good start in my view, but a lot of tv time was wasted on the officer doing in my opinion what was just a stalk in to ground to see deer, instead of being more informative about the mechanics if you like of the subject, also the guy who was a game dealer & butchers outlet did well out of it, a couple of comments were misleading too.
 
i believe that here in cumbria the police know about near enough every poaching incident and poacher. There was a case recently where a very well known (rifle) poacher had taken two hinds and calfs to the game dealers and the police had raided the game dealers and taken the carcasses away for dna testing to see which herd / area they had come from as there is apparantly three different dna profile herds (please anyone correct me if im wrong this is what a different gamedealer told me )the police made considerable effort to secure a conviction but the dna profile came back to a general area where said poacher had permission . said poacher had claimed the deer in the dealers were not his when they were first taken but when the came back from dna testing all clear he wanted paying apparantly
 
It would be nice if they treated it more like a Neighbourhood Watch scheme by forming and liaising with groups of local stalkers. We are the ones on the ground the most, you'd think our eyes and ears would be vital to such an operation. In many cases the culprits are known or suspected and it can just be a case of catching them with the support of the police.
 
Hi all,
I know Gareth Cole and believe you me he will put his heart and sole into this job.
He was the instigator of "smart water" and put it into great effect in the South Lakes.
He has had great experience in handling poaching offences, and will take no prisoners.
I for one wish him well in his new Job..Go get em Gareth..

regards
Griff
 
+1 from me, Gareth is a top chap who I am pleased to count as a friend. I cant think of anyone more suited to be honest
 
Gareth was one of the lecturers on my DSC 1 course recently and he definitely seemed dedicated when talking about his new job
 
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