As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Video: Gamekeeper jailed for ensnaring and killing birds of prey thanks to RSPB video monitoring

Video: Gamekeeper jailed for ensnaring and killing birds of prey thanks to RSPB video monitoring

By Record Reporter

GEORGE Mutch was sentenced to four months in jail for laying illegal traps and bludgeoning a goshawk to death with a stick.

George Mutch, 48, was sentenced to four months at Aberdeen Sheriff Court after he was convicted of laying illegal traps and killing a goshawk by hitting it with a stick.

It is understood to be the first custodial sentence for a wildlife crime in Scotland.

Mutch was caught following video monitoring by RSPB officials on the Kildrummy estate near Alford in Aberdeenshire in August 2012.

The footage showed that a jay had been used as a lure in a cage-style trap which had caught a rare goshawk.

Mutch was seen killing the distinctive bird by repeatedly striking it with a stick, the court head.

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