Gamekeeper filmed shooting sparrowhawk

A gamekeeper has been fined £1,575 after he admitted shooting a Eurasian Sparrowhawk at a Highland estate.

Rory Parker, of Tomatin, was filmed killing the sparrowhawk by an RSPB Scotland investigations team. He was seen firing two shots into the air as the bird flew overhead at Tom Na Slaite, Ruthven, on 16 September 2021.

Rory Parker was filmed by an RSPB investigations team (RSPB Scotland).

Inverness Sheriff Court heard Parker was 22 at the time and working on the Moy Estate, near Inverness. He admitted the offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

RSPB Scotland has welcomed the conviction, which comes just days after a Red Kite was shot at another Highland estate.

The court heard police recovered two shotgun cartridges and feathers from the site of the sparrowhawk shooting. Mark Moir KC, defending, told Sheriff Sara Matheson that his client had been in his job since he left school.

Mr Moir said: "He is deeply shameful of what he has done. He has brought the estate into disrepute and has now resigned. His firearms certificate is likely to be revoked as a result of this conviction. He should have been shooting pigeons and crows that day. Feral pigeons are a problem on the estate. However, the sparrowhawk flew over and there was a rush of blood. He says it was a stupid thing to do."

Sheriff Matheson told Parker Scotland's birds of prey were precious and deserved protection. Following sentencing, RSPB Scotland said he was the 56th gamekeeper to be convicted of raptor persecution offences in Scotland since 1990.

The conservation charity said it was likely Parker had used a plastic decoy owl to lure the bird to his position. Ian Thomson, Head of Investigations, said: "This conviction was the end result of exemplary partnership working between Police Scotland, RSPB Scotland, the Wildlife DNA Forensics team at Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture and the Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit of Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service."

He said the persecution of birds of prey was continuing in Scotland "unabated". The land where the sparrowhawk was killed is used for pheasant and partridge shoots and managed by a tenant on the Moy Estate.

A spokesman for the tenant said Parker was suspended after it was made aware of the incident. The spokesman added: "This incident was totally unacceptable to us and we remain committed to the highest standards of game management."

Scottish Land and Estates, which represents landowners and rural business, said it condemned raptor persecution in the strongest possible terms.

The organisation's Dee Ward said: "It is right and proper that anyone who commits such an act is prosecuted and convicted. In this case, the illegal persecution of a sparrowhawk near pheasant and partridge release pens is particularly disappointing given the progress made by the sector in driving down raptor crime in recent years and industry-wide condemnation of this unacceptable behaviour. We will continue to do all that we can to prevent, detect and condemn anyone who thinks this kind of abhorrent behaviour is acceptable."