Gamekeeper ‘poisoned crops in middle of night’
A MILLIONAIRE landowner told a court a gamekeeper poisoned his crops in the dead of night as revenge for being sacked.
City financier Michael Campbell, 76, said his 34year friendship with David Campbell deteriorated to the point he let him go.
Perth Sheriff Court was shown CCTV images of a man spending two nights spraying a substance on crops on the shooting estate at Edradynate near Aberfeldy, Perthshire.
Mr Campbell said he was sure the images showed his former gamekeeper returning to the estate two months after being replaced and sabotaging the game crops.
He told a trial he recognised his former friend from his ‘mutton chop’ sideburns and said the game crop – used to provide cover for pheasants – had ‘undoubtedly’ been targeted.
He said: ‘The crop was dying. The only way I would ever have seen a herbal plant looking like that would be if it had been poisoned.’
He told the court he had hired David Campbell, now 69, shortly after buying the 4,000-acre estate in 1983. Over the years they had become ‘extremely close’.
However, he explained that their relationship began to deteriorate when the accused persuaded him to spend ‘tens of thousands’ on a fox fence which had proved ‘disastrous’.
That fallout had then been exacerbated by David Campbell filling the shoots with ‘ex-layer’ birds which were too exhausted from laying eggs all year to provide much sport for shooting parties.
Michael Campbell said: ‘The quality of the shoot started deteriorating and everything started collapsing. He treated me with disdain.’
By February last year lawyers had negotiated a deal to remove the gamekeeper from his post.
Two months later, covert cameras filmed a man apparently spraying crops at 2am on two occasions. The businessman told the court he was sure the footage was of his former gamekeeper.
David Campbell, of Strathtay, Perthshire, denies that in April last year he maliciously damaged game crops at Edradynate Estate by spraying them with an unknown substance which caused them to perish.
The trial, before Sheriff Gillian Wade, continues.
‘Treated me with disdain’