WATCH: RSPB footage appears to show raid on Peak District peregrine nest in Stoney Middleton
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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds published a two-minute video of a man descending a rope on a cliff in Stoney Middleton.
A peregrine on the nest flies off and the man is seen to stop and pull out an ice cream tub. He appears to place eggs in it before descending out of sight.
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Hide AdThe incident in May 2020 led to a prosecution. It is against the law to disturb a nesting peregrine or take its eggs.
But the RSPB reported it concluded with a not guilty verdict at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on May 25.
The bird protection charity stated: “The judge ruled the police arrest of the suspect and search of his house was unlawful and the evidence found there by police was ruled inadmissible.”
No eggs or chicks were recovered, it added.
The RSPB trained a covert camera on the nest in May 2020.
Text on the video footage states: “Peregrines had nested here before. However, the nest had failed several times. It was suspected this was a site where peregrines were being illegally taken for falconry.”
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Hide AdThe RSPB called Derbyshire Police who investigated and charged a man who was later found not guilty.
Under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, it is a criminal offence to intentionally or recklessly kill, injure or take a peregrine. It is also an offence to take, damage or destroy the nest of a wild bird while it is in use or take or destroy the eggs.
