Protected birds found poisoned near sheep carcass smeared with toxic chemical

A Co Wicklow farmer has been fined €500 and ordered to pay €1,500 in legal costs for poisoning protected birds in a case which heard that the levels of poison used could have endangered humans and other wildlife.

Christopher Thomas Noel Doyle, aka Noel Doyle Senior, of Crehelp, pleaded guilty and was convicted at Carlow District Court under the Birds and Natural Habitats (Restrictions on the Use of Poisoned Bait) Regulations 2010.

The court heard that a National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) conservation ranger discovered a dead buzzard on lands at Athgreany, Co Wicklow. After further investigation the ranger found a second dead buzzard, a dead raven and a sheep carcass placed near a fox den.

Following postmortems carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Dublin Regional Veterinary Laboratory and extensive testing by the State Laboratory, the birds were found to have died due to high levels of the poison carbofuran. The sheep was found to have been cut open and the wound laced with large amounts of the toxic chemical.

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In evidence, the ranger said the levels of poison were extremely hazardous to all forms of life and it was very lucky no humans were poisoned accidentally. It was likely that other wild animals scavenged the carcasses, suffered and died from poisoning but were never found.

The case was prosecuted by John Ryan BL and State solicitor for Co Carlow Alan Millard.

Judge Marie Keane said an “astonishing amount of poison” was used in what she viewed as a “serious crime” and “a deliberate enterprise” to try persecute local wildlife. She said she would not be imposing a custodial sentence due to the defendant’s age.

Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan welcomed the conviction, saying it was “a particularly heinous and disturbing wildlife crime”.