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PC in court for moving birds' nests |
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Saturday, 01 April 2006 |
PC in court for moving birds' nests
A police officer has appeared before court after damaging two wild birds' nests outside his Norfolk cottage.
Christopher
Ashton, who has served in Norfolk for two years and received a chief
constable's commendation for bravery, appeared before Norwich
magistrates yesterday.
He received a six-month conditional
discharge and was ordered to pay £100 costs after magistrates accepted
his actions were the result of a mistake. He is now facing a
professional standards inquiry.
Ashton was caught out when two
Broads Authority wardens spotted him trying to remove what he believed
to be two empty nests from his home at Ormesby St Michael, near Great
Yarmouth.
Ashton, 26, who now lives in Norwich, admitted
intentionally damaging two wild birds' nests, contrary to the 1981
Wildlife and Countryside Act. Another charge of intentionally injuring
the birds was dismissed.
Prosecutor Lindsey Pennell told the
court the two wardens spotted Ashton on June 20, leaning out of an
upstairs window attempting to dislodge the nests with a pole. He was
later seen putting a bucket containing injured birds into a nearby
hedgerow in an attempt to return them to the wild.
The court
heard it was an offence, punishable by up to six months' imprisonment,
to remove any birds' nest regardless of its age and whether it is
occupied.
But magistrate Jocelyn Abel gave Ashton a six-month
conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £100 costs after hearing
his actions were the result of a mistake.
Defence solicitor Simon Nicholls said: "Mr Ashton was renting a room in the house, living with other police officers.
"When
he noticed the house martins nesting, he was quite taken with them and
used to watch them intently. He saw the nests being built, saw them
develop and saw the birds flying in and out.
"One day he saw
there wasn't any more movement and the nests were deteriorating, so he
assumed they were empty. The first one was unoccupied but, when he came
to remove the second, he was horrified to realise the birds were still
there. Unfortunately it was too late.
"He attempted to make up for his actions by returning the birds to the wild in the hope they would recover."
Mr Nicholls added that the prosecution would represent a blemish on Ashton's record.
"As
a police officer he will now have to live with a criminal conviction,
will face a professional standards inquiry and his career will be
reviewed," he said.
"Hopefully, given that he has an exemplary
record, including a bravery commendation for an incident involving a
knife, it will have no adverse influence."
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