‘Prince of poachers’ faces third jail sentence

A PENSIONER known as the ‘prince of poachers’ is facing jail after being caught in a glen with a rifle and silencer.

Retired fencing contractor James Kennedy was stripped of his firearms licence in 2015 after being convicted of poaching deer for a fourth time.

But just weeks after being ordered to get rid of his £2,500 gun, the 72-year-old was caught carrying a hunting rifle and ‘sound moderator’ in Glen Loy near Fort William, Inverness-shire.

Kennedy, who lives in a £500,000 hillside bungalow, admitted last week to carrying the weapon without a licence.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing more than 20 Remington .222 bullets during the incident last November.

Deferring sentence for a month to allow for a social work background report to be prepared, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald warned Kennedy ‘these are serious offences’.

Kennedy was previously jailed twice for poaching offences, once despite being defended by legendary Glasgow criminal lawyer Joe Beltrami at Oban Sheriff Court.