Gamekeeper who bludgeoned a uncommon chicken of prey to loss of life after turning into ‘pissed off’ is spared jail

A gamekeeper who trapped a protected bird of prey and clubbed it to death has avoided jail.

Perth Sheriff Court was shown shocking footage of Russell Mason catching the goshawk in a net and then using a cosh several times to bludgeon it to death.

But sheriff Mark Thorley spared him a prison term and instead fined him and ordered him to carry out unpaid work in the community.

He told the 49-year-old: ‘I can’t quite understand why you did what you did and only you will know.

‘Having seen the video I am non-plussed as to why the door was not simply opened to allow the bird to fly out.

‘This is a bird you, as a gamekeeper, will have been aware is a very limited species, which has recovered from extinction here and to destroy a bird like that I cannot understand.’

The court was told that Mason had resigned from his position as an estate gamekeeper and had lost his tied cottage home as a consequence.

Solicitor Paul Anderson, defending, said he had also lost his shotgun licence and was now looking for a new career.

Mr Anderson said: ‘His position is that he became frustrated. He walks into the trap. His position is that the goshawk had found its way into the trap on four separate occasions and on this occasion he lost his temper.

‘This was a legitimate trap. What is unlawful is the killing. He appears to have demonstrated a significant degree of remorse and regret for his actions.’

Mason was caught during a covert surveillance operation entering the large cage before capturing the rare bird in a net and beating it to death.

He was also found to have left nearly 200 rounds of live ammunition lying around in his bedroom and unsecured within his Polaris Ranger vehicle.

Fiscal depute Karon Rollo told the court: ‘Goshawks are rare birds of prey. They hunt birds and small animals. They have a wingspan of up to four feet and weigh between two and three pounds.

‘They were persecuted to extinction in Scotland in the last century, but have been reintroduced, with now around 100 breeding pairs in existence.

‘A crow cage trap was visited by RSPB staff on 9 January 2024. At the time this trap was set, it had a meat bait, and the door was chained and padlocked shut.

‘It had a sign on the trap stating that the Scottish Government pays the estate to catch carrion crows from 1 March to 30 June to increase the chick survival rates for conservation-listed bird species.

‘To continue observations and continue with this research, it was decided to install a continuous recording static camera covering this crow cage trap.’

She said staff from the charity RSPB visited the camera several times to review the captured footage and became aware of a male visiting the trap on February 12, 2024.

He entered the trap that had a goshawk and a crow inside and used a hand-held net to capture the bird of prey and put it to the ground.

Ms Rollo added: ‘He then struck the bird six times with a cosh. He placed the bird into a carrier bag, rolled it up and put the package under his arm.

‘He left the trap, placed the net in the back of the vehicle and the bag in the cab. He locked the trap and drove off.’

Police officers identified the man in the footage as gamekeeper Mason with the crow cage trap number relating to him.

The prosecutor said a vet specialising in raptors had deemed the goshawk as looking healthy and exhibiting the normal behaviour of a captured bird of prey.

The expert also believed that based on the footage, the goshawk was ‘quite obviously not killed outright with one blow’.

Ms Rollo said: ‘He is of the view that it is extremely unlikely that it would have been lying passively in the net and therefore there is a high possibility that it would have sustained painful fractures and injuries before dying.’

A search of Mason’s cottage found unsecured ammunition, along with clothes matching those seen on the CCTV footage. A bag and cosh were found in his vehicle.

The bag was analysed and found to have goshawk DNA on it. The search team recovered 195 illegally stored rounds of ammunition.

Mason, who had previously been placed on the sex offenders register for public indecency, admitted intentionally or recklessly killing a goshawk on February 12, 2024 by seizing it with a net before repeatedly striking it with a cosh on Cochrage Moor, Bridge of Cally, Perthshire.

He also admitted breaching the terms of his firearms certificate by failing to store ammunition securely at Milton of Drimmie, Bridge of Cally, on February 29, 2024 (corr – it was a leap year).

Sheriff Thorley fined Mason £850 and ordered him to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.

RSPB investigations manager Ian Thomson said Mason’s case was the sixth successful conviction for goshawk persecution since 2015 and added: ‘We welcome the conviction of Mr Mason and are pleased that our video evidence was again key in detecting a crime against one of our rarest raptors and in securing this result. We are, however, disappointed that the penalty imposed will have little in the way of a deterrent effect on others considering committing similar offences.’

Prosecutor Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, added: ‘It is highly important to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife that forms part of it. As such, wild birds are given strict protection by our law.

‘Russell Mason’s brutal and wholly unnecessary actions resulted in the suffering and death of a rare and magnificent bird of prey.’