“A landowner has been fined £675 over the actions of a gamekeeper who illegally poisoned a buzzard. 

Ninian Stewart was the first person to be convicted under a new wildlife crime law that means people can be held liable for the actions of employees.

Stewart, 66, was the employer of Peter Bell who had previously admitted poisoning the bird near Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway.

Bell’s actions resulted in the death of a buzzard in December 2012.

Stewart, who admitted four charges at Stranraer Sheriff Court, was the first person to be prosecuted and convicted under section 18A of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

The law created a new offence of “vicarious liability” which means that a person who has shooting rights over land – or who controls the exercise of such rights – can be found guilty of crimes committed by an employee acting as their agent.

Bell was a full-time gamekeeper employed by Stewart when he laced a pheasant carcass with carbofuran and set the bait in the field at Glasserton Home Farm.”

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Source: BBC News