RSPB at centre of wrangle in covert operation

SCOTLAND’S national bird charity is at the centre of a courtroom wrangle over the use of “covert surveillance” as evidence against a man alleged to have killed or injured birds of prey.

A pre-trial hearing on the admissibility of RSPB Scotland’s secretly obtained footage took place in Aberdeen yesterday ahead of the trial of George Mutch.

Mr Mutch, 48, is accused of recklessly killing or injuring two goshawks and a buzzard by using traps at Kildrummy Estate, near Alford in Aberdeenshire, between August 6 and September 13, 2012. He denies the charges. The trial is on hold until the sheriff rules over the admissibility of footage obtained by RSPB officers who hid a camera on the estate without the land owner’s permission.

The court heard yesterday that RSPB seasonal workers came across two bird traps – a legally approved method of capturing crows but not raptors – on the estate in August 2012.

The feather of a rare goshawk was discovered in one of the traps and one of the rare birds later disappeared from the second trap.

Ian Thomson, RSPB Scotland’s head of investigations, told the court he had sanctioned the use of a camcorder hidden in a pile of twigs to secretly film the traps.

He said the cameras are routinely used for gathering scientific data on the impact traps have on birds of prey.

But defence advocate Mark Moir alleged that the charity has an agenda against the use of crow cage traps and is using the footage to seek wildlife crime convictions – an allegation Mr Thomson denied.

Mr Thomson, 50, said: “We did not want to alter the behaviour of anyone coming to the trap.

“Our role is the protection of birds. What we are trying to do is to put a dossier together on how these traps are being used.”