The warning comes as police, wildlife managers and representatives of countryside agencies in Caithness and Sutherland unite to mount an offensive on poaching.

Northern Constabulary is working to re-establish the close links it had with ghillies, gamekeepers and other estate workers.

The rundown in village police stations is among the main reasons cited for the loss of the former bush telegraph in which police would get first-hand information about suspicious activity.

The relationship has also been damaged by the backlash from high-profile media cases in other parts of the country of gamekeepers involved in poisoning protected birds.

Chief Inspector Andy Brown, area commander of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, is keen to re-establish the previous rapport.

Following on from last month's launch of the initiative to fight wildlife crime on his patch, he arranged a seminar on poaching in the Thurso campus of North Highland College UHI last Thursday evening.

It was attended by 120 estate workers and public agency representatives from throughout Caithness and Sutherland.

Addressing the wildlife managers, CI Brown said: "We all have our job to do.

"Part of my job is to ensure that the community is safe.

"Part of your job is to ensure that the area you cover is safe from crime, safe from poaching."

CI Brown said the restoration of the force's links with people on the ground is vital if the current initiative is to succeed.

He said: "People come to the north Highlands as it is remote, and they think that no-one will ever catch them and they can get away with murder."

He said this perception only holds if people on the ground fail to keep a weather eye out and report suspicious activity to his officers.

He said there have been two recent wildlife crime cases which have been uncovered in the Far North.

A team of 14 from the Newcastle area had come with guns to the Durness area on a badger-baiting trip.

Subsequently, two men from Devon were detained after a tip-off from a keeper on Sandside Estate about their deer-poaching foray.

Their guns were seized and one of the men was prosecuted and fined £600.

CI Brown said there are clear links between commercial poaching gangs and crime cartels.

He added that poachers often commit other crimes such as motoring offences, vandalisms and thefts.

The chief inspector said the fight against the criminals will be helped with the impending arrival of a police vehicle in the Far North which has the capability to automatically trace the registered keeper of a car by scanning its number plate.

He pledged his officers would respond as quickly as they could to intelligence provided by estate workers.

While conceding that there is little likelihood of any former village stations re-opening, he said police manpower levels are rising with four new probationers shortly to start in Caithness.

Wick-based wildlife liaison officer Cailean MacLeod said good, up-to-date information about the movements of suspected poachers is vital.

"We cover a huge tract of countryside and unless people work with us, we haven't a chance of policing the area effectively," he stated.

"We currently suffer from a lack of intelligence.

"Police officers know their beat but increasingly people are travelling farther and farther to commit crimes and we need intelligence if we are going to catch them."

Constable MacLeod said that police fully recognise the important part the environment of the Far North plays in the local economy and they will do all in their power to protect it from wildlife criminals.

He explained that apart from poachers, the force wants to hear about people suspected of other countryside crimes such as badger-baiting, hare-coursing and the taking of protected birds' eggs, freshwater pearl mussels and fossils.

David Barclay, senior fiscal depute in Caithness, has special training in wildlife crime.

In his previous post he handled the first prosecution of dolphin harassment in Scotland, involving a jet-skier in Macduff harbour.

Mr Barclay said that the rose-

tinted image of the poacher as a lovable rogue seeking "one for the pot" is far removed from today's armed and dangerous individuals involved in a commercial operation.

As poaching tends to happen in remote areas, often in darkness, it is hard to detect.

People are seldom caught in the act, and any evidence is often circumstantial.

He said that anyone who suspects a crime has been committed should not, if possible, disturb the scene or remove evidence.

He said photographic or video evidence can be very valuable.

Advising against DIY investigations, he said unauthorised surveillance techniques can kill off the chances of a case going to court.

Echoing the police plea for up-to-date intelligence, Mr Barclay said: "If poachers know people are watching, they know there's a risk of them being caught and it will make them think twice."

Wick sheriff Andrew Berry had been due to address the seminar but had to call off through work commitments.

iain-grant@ukf.net

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---