Gamekeeper filmed ‘brutally’ killing buzzards avoids jail

A gamekeeper has escaped jail after pleading guilty to killing two buzzards to protect pheasants for shooting in Nottinghamshire.

John Orrey was caught on camera “brutally” killing the birds of prey with a “slash hook”, a bladed tool with a long wooden handle, after the RSPB placed a hidden camera close to the trap.

Orrey received a prison sentence of 20 weeks, suspended for one year, and a £1,000 fine.

The RSPB said a member of the public had contacted them at the end of 2020, reporting buzzards inside a cage trap in Kneeton in Nottinghamshire.

Upon visiting the trap, the RSPB officer found a live buzzard in the trap along with the carcasses of a pheasant and two stock doves, which are a protected species.