Farmer fined after traps and poison found on land

A Lincolnshire farmer has been fined more than £2,000 after he was found to have unset traps capable of catching birds on his land.

John Bryant, 40, of Farthorpe, West Ashby, Horncastle, pleaded not guilty to having two unset pole traps, but was convicted after a trial.

He also admitted contravening health and safety regulations by possessing two unlabelled containers of alphachloralose, a type of poison, on 4 October 2022.

A hearing at Lincoln Magistrates' Court earlier heard police launched an investigation after three dead birds of prey were discovered near West Ashby, though none were found to have been poisoned or injured at the hands of Bryant.

The court heard that a tub containing alphachloralose, a substance often used to kill mice, was found in Bryant's vehicle, and another in his garage.

Testing of the pots found the concentration of alphachloralose to be greater than 80%, with legal products only being used at 4%.

According to the RSPB, pole traps are devices placed on a post that can be used to kill birds.

Deputy District Judge Asif Munir said it was "not possible to say" when the first pole trap "was last set for use". The second trap was "old and rusty".

Noemi Byrd, mitigating for Bryant, said there was "no evidence of any actual planning" and there was a "very low risk of harm".

"Mr Bryant did not poison any birds and the traps were never set," she added.

Judge Munir told the court that "no birds of prey were found to have been poisoned or injured at the hands of Mr Bryant".

Passing sentence, he said that while the pole traps were not set, there was a "high level" of culpability.

"It was not an intentional act, but an intentional omission in not removing them," he added.

Bryant was convicted of the pole trap offences following a two-day trial at the court on 6 and 7 March.

He was fined £2,112 in total. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £845 and prosecution costs of more than £4,000.

Howard Jones, a senior investigations officer for the RSPB, said: "We are extremely satisfied with the sentence handed out today.

"There were serious health and safety issues that were uncovered during this search which is why it was so valuable that the police acted on the information they had."

Det Con Aaron Flint, of Lincolnshire Police's rural crime action team, said: "We thoroughly investigate any reports that relate to criminal activity around birds of prey."

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