A FALCON DISGRACE
»»Dad & son crooks dodge jail for illegally selling peregrines »»Decision slammed as pair face five-year bird of prey ban
A CROOKED father and son who illegally sold peregrine falcons that had been snatched from the wild have dodged a prison sentence.
Timothy Hall, 48, and son Lewis, 23, were instead ordered to perform unpaid work and banned from keeping birds of prey for five years.
Wildlife experts have slammed the sentence as “disappointing” after a lengthy surveillance operation of 15 nests in the south of Scotland led to officers swooping on Hall’s Berwickshire home in May 2021.
Police had been tipped off about their scheme after the duo allegedly bragged about their ill-gotten gains.
A number of chicks were discovered with tests showing their DNA matched that taken from wild adults across the south of Scotland – despite claims they were “captive bred”. Sales records showed some of the birds were flogged to clients for sums of up to £25,700.
Birds connected to the Halls ended up in Dubai where falcon racing has surged in popularity amongst wealthy Sheikhs.
Both men appeared for sentencing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court yesterday after previously admitting selling the wild birds between 2019 and 2021.
Part-time gamekeeper Timothy was ordered to carry out 220 hours of unpaid work while son Lewis was given 150 hours. A not guilty plea by wife and mother Suzanne Hall, a Police Scotland officer, was accepted at an earlier hearing.
But George Smith from the Scottish Raptor Study Group, who was involved in the massive police probe dubbed Operation Tantallon, said the offence deserved a jail term.
He said: “I was extremely disappointed when I heard the sentence. Based on how serious this offence is, it should be nothing less than a jail sentence in my opinion. They’d been doing it for quite a few years which means it’ll be having an impact year on year.
“These birds don’t start breeding until they’re about three or four years old so we won’t see the impact of what they’ve done until a few years down the line. Peregrines can be bred in captivity quite easily. You can legally do it without an issue.
“But it seems to be easier just to steal rather than take the effort to breed your own. There are some good breeders out there who do a lot of excellent work but this is just a short cut to make quick money.
“The peregrine falcon population in the south of Scotland is actually declining right now. So any further removal of birds from the wild population is going to have a huge impact.
“We’re not sure if the decline is natural or by persecution but the population is not as healthy as it should be just now. I was involved in collecting all the DNA samples from the adults. “Having the DNA database is going to make a huge difference and it’s only going to get bigger. Hopefully it’ll deter people from doing something like this again.”
A number of the chicks seized from the Hall property were successfully placed back into wild nests alongside babies of a similar age soon after the raid.
Operation Tantallon has been described as “the biggest ever” wildlife crime investigation in British history.
Chief inspector Kevin Kelly of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit said: “It has allowed us to lift the lid on the homegrown issue of wild-taking, laundering and selling peregrine falcons.
“It’s so lucrative because there’s almost unlimited top end money for people to take the most desirable product – which is a wild-taken bird. For criminals, it’s also low risk and high reward.”
"I was very disappointed when i heard sentence GEORGE SMITH SCOTTISH RAPTOR STUDY GROUP