Avonbridge man fined for causing damage to an active badger sett

Dylan Boyle, 52, was seen placing nets on a slope and digging with a spade near active badger setts at a farm near Cupar in January last year.

It was subsequently discovered that a number of sett entrances had been blocked with soil and rocks.

Boyle was sentenced at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on Thursday after being found guilty following an earlier three-day trial of two charges.

Sheriff Mark Alan had found Boyle guilty on the charges of digging a badger sett and blocking a badger sett in September last year, in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

At the sentencing hearing this week, Boyle was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

The court heard how Boyle, of Avonbridge, was filmed at the farm by investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS).

He was seen climbing over a wire fence from the field to a sloping bank and began investigating the ground.

The accused repeatedly went back and forward from the hill to his quad bike and began removing nets and placing them across the site as if he was covering up entrances to a sett.

The following day the site was visited by an ecologist and police officer who found evidence of an active badger sett.

The damage to the sett and the blocked entrances were noted at that time.

Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: “It is highly important to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife that forms part of it. Badgers are given strict protection by law and it is a criminal offence to interfere with a badger sett either intentionally or recklessly.

“Dylan Boyle’s actions were deliberate and carried out with a total disregard for the consequences they could have for a protected species. COPFS takes offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 seriously and action will be taken against individuals where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and where it is in the public interest to do so.”

Speaking following the sentencing, Robbie Marsland, director of Scotland and Northern Ireland for League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Mr Boyle’s criminal actions were abhorrent and demonstrated a wanton cruelty and disregard for the law. His digging and blocking of the badger sett was seen and recorded by vigilant fieldworkers from The League Against Cruel Sports, and we were able to provide Police Scotland with the video evidence that helped secure this conviction. “Sadly, crimes against wildlife remain far too common in Scotland. While I wish his sentence was more severe it should serve as a reminder, to all those who enjoy harming wild animals in the countryside, that our cameras are everywhere.”