Police probe traps baited with live pigeons on Norfolk estate
Date of alert:
Sunday, 8 May 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Norfolk Constabulary
A police investigation is under way into whether live pigeons were used as bait to kill birds of prey on a Norfolk estate.
Officers went to the Hilborough House estate belonging to William van Cutsem, 42, a close friend of Prince William and godfather to Prince George, as part of a probe into alleged wildlife offences.
It follows an allegation that illegal methods had been used to kill wildlife that posed a threat to the 4,500-acre estate's renowned flock of wild partridges.
It is illegal to target protected birds of prey such as buzzards or use outdated traps and poison to cull predators.
Hilborough gamekeepers use legal methods for vermin control, including the shooting of foxes and trapping of crows, and it is understood that police left the estate having found no evidence of wrongdoing.
A report in the Mail on Sunday newspaper said that the probe may have been launched following a malicious complaint, and there is no suggestion the allegations are in any way related to Mr van Cutsem himself.
