UPDATE – 15th November 2023
Man found with wild animal corpses in freezer says collecting roadkill is a ‘hobby’
Kevin Birtles said some were for taxidermy while others were roadkill he picked up to prevent children from seeing
A man found with the frozen corpses of protected animals said he collected roadkill as a hobby. Kelvin Birtles was the subject of a Trading Standards investigation at his home in Saffron Road, Wigston, on Tuesday, April 25.
Leicestershire Police were also called to the house to “prevent a breach of the peace” while the Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards team went through the freezer in a lean-to behind the house and several barrels containing other corpses. The illegal corpses, which require a special licence to possess, were of badgers, otters, owls, buzzards and a swan.
The search also revealed body parts of llamas, piglets, a pheasant and a horse, which were not illegal to possess. At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday Birtles, 65, gave his explanation for possessing the corpses, which included his taxidermy hobby.
Birtles told the magistrates: “I was under the understanding [a licence] was to be applied for if they were sold. For personal use, as far as I knew, I didn’t need one.
“The badgers were picked up near a school. I didn’t want them all smashed up on the road for the kids to see.”
He explained he did hold a licence for processing animal by-products and that he worked for “a disposal firm” and he intended to eventually dispose of the badgers in the incinerator at work. He added: “If I see something on the road that’s not smashed up I don’t want to leave them to be smashed up, so I wrap them up and put them in the freezer.”
He said not all the animals were found dead on the road. “The otters were dropped off as a favour for me. They were put in the freezer to be disposed of in the same way.”
He added that he also collected “bone products” that were “for veterinary teaching purposes”. He added: “It’s more a hobby than a business. Over the years they’ve accumulated in the freezer.
“There wasn’t any intention to make money and I haven’t done any taxidermy for four or five years.”
Birtles was given a 12-month community order requiring him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.”
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/man-found-wild-animal-corpses-8909777
#####################################################
More carcasses were found around Kelvin Birtles‘ property in Wigston.
8th October 2023
The remains of badgers, otters, owls, buzzards and a swan were found in a man’s freezer during a raid of his home. Having the corpses of protected animals is a crime under conservation laws.
During the police raid many other body parts of other creatures were also found, including llamas, piglets, a pheasant and a horse – although having those were not an offence. Kelvin Birtles claimed the items he was charged with possessing were roadkill.
At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday Birtles, of Saffron Road, Wigston, pleaded guilty to three counts. The first was for possessing two dead badgers in breach of the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act, a charge for having two dead otters, which is a crime under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and a further charge under the same act for having nine dead wild birds.
The birds he admitted possessing illegally were a swan, a barn owl, three buzzards and four tawny owls. All the dead animals were found at his home during a joint raid by Leicestershire Police and the county council Trading Standards department on Tuesday, April 25.
Prosecutor Nicola Smith said: “They attended to carry out a search. They located a number of animals and birds in a chest freezer in an outhouse.”
She said there were also large containers of liquid elsewhere on the property which had in them other animal parts that were decomposing. She added: “He admitted the possession of the animals and he said they were found as roadkill.”
The court heard that possessing the animals was a crime, whether or not he had killed the animals himself. District Judge Jonathan Straw said that he wanted Birtles, who was representing himself in court, to speak to the probation and consider getting a solicitor before he sentenced him.
The case was adjourned until Wednesday, November 15, when the probation service will present a report about Birtles before he is sentenced. The district judge told Birtles: “I want to know a bit more about you and what led you to have all these animals and animal parts.”
https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/corpses-badgers-birds-otters-found-8805105