Jailed, fishery boss who shot otter
A FISHERY owner who killed an otter which had been eating his valuable fish has been sent to jail.
Stuart Jones had been setting traps for the animals which had been taking carp worth up to £40,000 each.
When a protected otter got caught in an angler’s net at the Lyons Gate Campsite and Fishery, guests watched Jones as he shot it in the head with a rifle. Jones, 54, admitted two counts of killing and trapping a protected species and was jailed for two months at Bournemouth Crown Court.
The court heard Jones recently sold the business in Dorchester, Dorset.
Otters were close to extinction in
Britain during the 1950s due to pesticides and habitat loss but were reintroduced in the 1970s and ’80s.
But Jones had found them a nuisance at his fishery and “planned their demise”, the court heard.
James Ritchie witnessed the shooting in July last year. He said: “I feel complete shock this has happened. I would certainly not go back to the site again.”
Victoria Hill, prosecuting, said: “If people were to behave in that way the impact on the otter population as a whole would be devastating.”
Jamie Porter, defending, said
Jones had at least three otters on his land and “wasn’t thinking clearly”.
He said: “He has handed back his rifle licences and no longer engages in any activity to do with wildlife.”
The CPS also intends to pursue a Proceeds of Crime Act application for the cost of otter fencing, which Jones should have used to stop the otters but can cost up to £20,000.
Dave Webb, founder of the UK Wild Otter Trust, said the jail sentence would “send a stark warning”.
Mr Webb said one 40lb carp, which fisheries use to attract anglers, can be worth up to £40,000, so spending half that sum on fencing was worth it.