A gamekeeper has appeared in court after admitting he shot and poisoned birds of prey.

Matthew Stroud of Fengate in Weeting, appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, October 5 and admitted a catalogue of offences against wild birds.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of using poisoned bait, six counts of killing a common buzzard and one count of deliberately killing a northern goshawk.

He also admitted possessing the banned pesticide strychnine hydrochloride, incorrectly storing biocodal product Rentokil Phostoxin, possessing four shotguns to kill a Schedule 1 wild bird and releasing 3,400 common pheasants into the wild between June 1 and September 14, 2021 contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The investigation started when RSPB officers found a young pheasant dead in Belvedere Wood, Weeting, on August 19, 2021.

Tests later confirmed the pheasant had been poisoned with strychnine hydrochloride. The use of a poison bait such as a pheasant, laced with pesticides, is one of the most common methods of illegally killing birds of prey, notes the RSPB.

Further intelligence led Norfolk Police to execute a warrant at Stroud’s home, Belvedere Wood and Oisier Carr Wood on September 14, 2021 where they found three dead buzzards that had they had been shot and two pheasant carcasses with extremely high levels of strychnine hydrochloride.

At Belvedere Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its internationally important populations of stone curlews, officers found a poisoned common buzzard.

Two bottles of strychnine chloride were found in the glovebox of Stroud’s all-terrain vehicle, and a bottle of phostoxin was discovered by officers in a lean-to style shed attached to his house.

What's more, Stroud’s mobile phone had photos of a dead goshawk and five dead common buzzards. He later confessed to officers that all the photos were of birds he had killed.

PC Chris Shelley, a Norfolk Constabulary rural crime officer, said: “This investigation is one of the biggest cases of its kind that we have dealt with in Norfolk.

“Stroud actions were dangerous and inhumane – he shot and poisoned birds of prey as he saw fit, and at will, because it suited him to do so.

"He also used a highly dangerous poison - one that has been banned in the UK for the last 15 years – indiscriminately, which could have had a disastrous effect on other local wildlife and showed a scant disregard for the safety of others."

The poison Stroud laid put the lives of both people and animals at risk, said Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer: “Laying poison baits out in the open is not only illegal but extremely dangerous and irresponsible. Baits like those being used present a deadly risk to any animal or person that might come across it.

“It is particularly troubling that this was happening on an SPA, a designated area where wildlife and nature should have the highest legal protection."

Stroud was handed a 12-month Community Order and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, fined £692 and ordered to pay costs of £145, compensation of £288.72 and a victim surcharge of £95.

The court also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all Stroud’s firearms, mobile phones and any chemicals.

Ashley Petchey of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was a case where Mr Stroud has, whilst in his position as a gamekeeper, killed wild birds by shooting and poisoning. He has also released non-native species into a SSSI.  

“The scale of the offences in this case demonstrates the lengths people will go to in order to persecute raptors.   

“The Crown take all cases of raptor persecution seriously and where the full code test is met, bring offenders to justice.”