Haddington man sentenced for snaring offences

Craig Aitken, 43, pled guilty to wildlife crimes carried out in January of last year at a farm in East Lothian.

He also admitted to stealing cameras which had been placed covertly by the Scottish SPCA with the land owner’s permission.

Mr Aitken was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and given a Restriction of Liberty Order requiring him to stay home between 9pm and 8am for a six month period.

Footage obtained from the cameras between January 23 and 27 2015 showed Aitken checking and apparently re-setting one of the 47 homemade snares he had set along the 300 metre fence line.

When the Inspectors returned to the farm near Haddington, on February 11, they found that the cameras had been stolen and all of the snares had been pulled safe and anchored to the fence line by loops.

Unbeknown to the accused, the cameras housed GPS devices which led to police searching his home.

One of the cameras had footage dated 9th February which show the cameras being removed from the land and the accused’s voice could clearly be heard as part of the recording.

Gary Aitken, procurator fiscal, wildlife and environment said: “The use of snares is governed by legislation and their improper or illegal use can compromise the welfare and conservation status of protected species and other wild animals and represents a threat to livestock and pets.

“Craig Aitken set a number of illegal snares without the land owner’s permission in a way likely to cause any animals coming into contact with them to become suspended on the fence, causing unnecessary suffering and death.

“We are committed to eradicating this type of offending and will continue to work with the Scottish SPCA and Police Scotland to ensure that those who commit such crimes are brought to justice.”