Message from Raptor Persecution UK 6th August 2026 On Monday 20 July 2026, at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, all charges were dropped against two gamekeepers who had been on trial for the alleged shooting of Red Kites, as well as alleged firearms offences, in the Cairngorms National Park. Red Kite (photo by Pete Walkden) What follows is …
SHOOTING’S REVOLVING DOOR: BLOODSPORTS IN THE HALLS OF POWER
4th August 2026 With the current parliamentary reshuffles going on, the HSA shooting team takes a look at the influence of shooting interests in parliament in recent times. As has been widely covered in various HSA exposes, as well as by Animal Aid and more recently End Bird Shooting the pheasant and partridge shooting industry would struggle to survive at …
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Man sentenced for possessing dead birds dumped outside shop
23rd June 2026 A father of three has been sentenced for possessing two protected birds which were stuffed under the door handles of a village shop alongside 50 dead hares. James Kempster, 39, who lives on a caravan site in Marchwood Road in Eling, Southampton, was convicted following a trial at Southampton Magistrates' Court of …
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More detail on trial of two Scottish gamekeepers charged with alleged shooting of Red Kites in Cairngorms National Park
Message from Raptor Persecution UK 18th June 2026 The trial of two Scottish gamekeepers, accused of offences relating to the alleged shooting and killing of Red Kites in the Cairngorms National Park in February 2025, armed trespass, and firearms offences, continued at Aberdeen Sheriff Court this week. Head gamekeeper Graeme Rankin, 40, and assistant gamekeeper …
Man to be sentenced after dead birds dead dumped at shop
15th June 2026 A man is due to be sentenced after being found guilty of possessing two protected birds. James Kempster, 39, of Marchwood Road, Eling, near Totton, was convicted at Southampton Magistrates’ Court after DNA evidence linked him to a dead kestrel and barn owl, both protected species. The birds were discovered outside Broughton …
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Man convicted of wildlife offences after dead birds and hares were dumped outside village shop
24th April 2026 A man has been convicted of wildlife offences after the bodies of more than 50 dead animals were dumped outside of a Hampshire village shop. On 15 March 2024, police received multiple reports that a large pile of dead hares had been strewn across the floor outside Broughton Community Shop. The carcasses …
Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason receives derisory sentence for brutal killing of Goshawk
Message from Raptor Persecution UK 24th April 2026 Scottish gamekeeper and former convicted sex offender Russell Douglas Mason, 49, attended a sentencing hearing at Perth Sheriff Court this morning, after pleading guilty last month to the brutal killing of a Goshawk that he battered to death inside a Crow cage trap on a shooting estate …
Convicted Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason – more disturbing details about this case
Message from Raptor Persecution UK 18th March 2026 Further to yesterday’s news that Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason, 49, had pleaded guilty to battering a trapped Goshawk to death on a shooting estate in Perthshire (see here), the Daily Record has published more detail about this case, which is quite disturbing. The article is reproduced below in case this URL is …
Scottish gamekeeper Russell Mason pleads guilty to battering a Goshawk to death on shooting estate in Perthshire
Message from Raptor Persecution UK 17th March 2026 A Scottish gamekeeper has pleaded guilty to killing a Goshawk after he battered it to death after it was caught inside a Crow cage trap on a shooting estate in Perthshire. At Perth Sheriff Court this morning, on what should have been the opening day of a …
Banned owl sanctuary founder stripped of OBE
6th March 2026 The founder of an owl sanctuary who was banned from keeping birds is to be stripped of his OBE. Paul Rose, of Walney, who ran Barrow Owl Sanctuary in Cumbria, was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended for two years and placed on a curfew for a month last year, after he …
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