2 new PF'S FOR NORTH OF THE BORDER!!

[anythingoes 28]

From: Crown Office

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

News Release

12 August 2011

New specialist prosecutors appointed for wildlife and environmental crime

 

Two prosecutors have today been appointed as full-time specialists for wildlife and environmental crime, the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC has announced.

Kate Fleming and Shona McJannett will investigate, mark and prosecute all cases involving crimes against wildlife and the environment in Scotland. Their remit will also include cases of animal cruelty.

Miss Fleming will be based at the Glasgow Procurator Fiscals office and Miss McJannett at the Edinburgh Procurator Fiscals office.

They will be managed by Tom Dysart, Area Procurator Fiscal for Ayrshire and Dumfries & Galloway, who currently leads COPFS in this area of law.

They will be supported by Alex Prentice QC, Principal Crown Counsel. He was appointed Crown Counsel for wildlife and environmental cases in February 2010 and will present the Crown case in any criminal appeals.

The appointment of these full-time specialists builds on work already undertaken by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to tackle wildlife crime more effectively. The specialists will work together to share knowledge and experience of cases.

 

The Lord Advocate said:

"COPFS is committed to tackling crimes against Scotland's precious wildlife and environment. Our new specialist prosecutors will continue to develop the skills and knowledge built up by COPFS to deal with these cases.

"They will also further enhance the working relationships we have built up with investigating agencies, including the police and wildlife organisations.

"We know that serious and organised crime groups are becoming involved in environmental crime. Our specialist prosecutors will work closely with COPFS civil recovery and criminal confiscation specialists to ensure that any proceeds of crime will be recovered."

 

Tom Dysart said:

"I am delighted to announce the appointment of Kate Fleming and Shona McJannett as the COPFS dedicated wildlife and environmental crime prosecutors. They are both experienced and capable prosecutors. The COPFS network of specialist prosecutors demonstrated the value of specialisation in this complex and important area of our work. Kate and Shona replace the existing specialist network and as full-time, dedicated specialists, they will build on the successes of their colleagues.

"Crimes against wildlife and the environment are serious offences, affecting the environment in which we live, and the legacy we leave to future generations. Environmental crime has the potential to affect public health.

"COPFS is committed to providing a powerful and effective deterrent to those who commit crimes against wildlife and the environment. We are determined to ensure that we play our part in ensuring that Scotland's rich and diverse natural heritage is protected."

 

Notes to Editors

1. COPFS receives reports in relation to around 100 wildlife and environment crimes each year.

2. In September 2004, COPFS set up a national network of specialist wildlife prosecutors to tackle wildlife crime in Scotland. These specialists have been carrying out this work alongside their duties as general prosecutors. They will be replaced by the new team.

3. Specialist prosecutors work with police from the investigation stage onwards, and their knowledge and experience of wildlife and environmental crime and local communities is carried through to the case being prosecuted in court. They act as the local contact for receiving reports of wildlife and environment cases - and to provide advice and information to wildlife investigators. They mark and also prosecute wildlife and environment cases.

4. Among the cases successfully prosecuted by COPFS wildlife and environment specialists are:

* Gamekeeper Lewis Whitham, 22, who was fined £800 for planting a poisoned rabbit carcass on the Hopetoun Estate in South Lanarkshire.

* James Faulds, 22, who killed a deer with a rock in the Pets Corner at Belleisle Park in Ayr. He pled guilty to killing the animal and was jailed for 22 months.

* Martin Johnstone pled guilty to the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, Section 1(1), deliberately hunting foxes with two dogs in Glasgow and was fined £500.

* James Stewart, a crewman on one of the UK's largest herring and mackerel trawlers, pled guilty under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 Section 1 for mutilating, beating and crushing 21 grey seal pups to death in Shetland in November 2008. He was sentenced to days in prison.

* Coal mining company Aardvark TMC Ltd was fined £10,000 for breaching the terms of a Special Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) near New Cumnock, Ayrshire.

* TEG Environmental Ltd was fined £14,000 at Perth Sheriff Court for pollution, including breach of odour regulations, at their composting facility at Glenfarg.

* S.D. Cameron Ltd, of Kiltarlity, was fined £30,000 after it pled guilty to a contravention of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) (Regulations) 2005 Regulation 5 and 40(1)(a) and the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003 Section 20(3)(d). The unauthorised work was carried out between 1 and 28 July 2010 on the Belladrum Burn, which is a tributary of the River Beauly.

* Dean Barr, sporting manager at the Skibo Estate near Dornoch, was fined £3,300 after pleading guilty to possessing the largest ever recovered amount of the banned pesticide carbofuran. It was found in the course of an investigation into the discovery of dead birds of prey, believed to have been illegally killed on the estate, including three golden eagles and a sparrow hawk and a grouse laced with carbofuran, which was pinned to the ground by a metal spike.

5. The Crown also successfully prosecuted Doonin Plant Ltd for knowingly permitting controlled waste to be deposited on its land without the authority of a waste management licence. The company was fined £8,000. The Crown appealed the sentence as 'unduly lenient'. The appeal court agreed with the Crown that the £8,000 fine was unduly lenient, and increased it to £100,000 (reduced to £90,000 to reflect the guilty plea).

[graham4877 1,181]

kill a dear with a rock 22month , beat 21 seal pups to death and you get days??

how f****d up is that