Jail warning for man in badger sett case

A Staffordshire man has been warned he may face jail after being found guilty of interfering with a badger sett on an isolated farm.

District Judge Frederick Rutherford told Gary Douglas, aged 40, of Railway Cottages, Great Bridgeford, and two other men: "You had intended to cause extreme cruelty to the animals in this sett. In my mind this carries imprisonment."

Douglas, along with 29-year-old Shaun Chapman and 47-year-old Terry Murry, were convicted under section 3 of the Protection of Badgers' Act 1992, following a one-day trial at Hull Magistrates Court.

They were armed with two shovels, three terriers and an electronic dog collar locator on December 5 and their activities were filmed by the Humberside Police Helicopter at Middle Farm, Sunk Island, in East Yorkshire.

The court heard the farm had a large number of badgers and a highly active sett 100 yards from where the men were digging.

Douglas had his English bull terrier with him when arrested by the police.

He said he had gone to East Yorkshire on invitation having met Chapman, formerly of Fishlake, Doncaster, at a Welsh game fair.

He said he didn't go anywhere without his dog but had not been to the area before. "I went out bushing to bolt a few foxes and rabbits," said Douglas. "I didn't dig." Asked why not he laughed: "I'm too lazy."

He said he had carried a shovel at one point before throwing it in brambles and denied he was trying to dispose of evidence. He said: "I was going to come back and fill the hole in. I couldn't leave it open." He refused to answer police questions.

Farm manager William Osgerby, 37, confirmed the hole where the men were digging was a badger sett not a fox hole. He admitted giving Murry, from Ottringham, Hull, permission to fly his hawk on the land but not badger digging.

Vet Matthew Brash, who visited the scene, said he found and photographed a five-toed badger footprint exiting the sett a week after the men had dug down. "This was obviously a badger hole, the right shape, the right size," said Mr Brash.

District Judge Rutherford said there was clear evidence from the farmer, a vet and a police community support officer, that this was an active badger sett. Sentencing was adjourned and all three were granted bail.