RSPB disappointed with outcome of case, but defence says gamekeeper was demonised

A GAMEKEEPER on an expensive shooting estate has been fined after admitting setting a trap which could injure wild birds.

Harrogate Magistrates Court heard the RSPB and two expert witnesses were convinced Ryan Waite, who maintained the Swinton estate 10,000-acre grouse moor in the Yorkshire Dales, had intended to target birds of prey.

RSPB investigators covertly filmed Waite, of Healey, near Ripon, resetting a spring-loaded pole trap on top of a six foot tree stump in June last year.

Kim Coley, prosecuting, said Waite was also filmed removing the trap when officials visited the area over a separate matter.

Continued