NGO statement on Norwich Magistrates’ Court sentencing

More News

On Wednesday 5 October 2022, a man named Matthew Stroud appeared at Norwich Magistrates’ Court, where he admitted illegally shooting and poisoning birds of prey at internationally important wildlife sites. 

The person in question is not and never has been a member of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation. 

Stroud admitted shooting five buzzards and one goshawk, the poisoning of another buzzard, the laying of poison baits and illegal possession of poisons including strychnine. He was also convicted for the unauthorised release of game birds on a Special Protection Area. For the above crimes, he received a 12-month community order, was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and was fined £692 for offences connected with raptor persecution. The court also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all Stroud’s firearms, mobile phones and any chemicals.

As the lead body for gamekeeping, the NGO has a responsibility to protect the reputation of the gamekeeping sector. We have a no-tolerance approach to any kind of wildlife crime, and expect our members to adhere to the Code of Good Shooting Practice. This is regularly reinforced to our members. In addition, we regularly reinforce to our members the importance of responsible rodenticide use, and work closely with the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU).

The man in question is not a member of the NGO. However, behaviour such as this brings the name of gamekeeping into disrepute, and damages the hard work that gamekeepers carry out every day of the week, all across the country. Many keepers across the country work hard on conservation projects which directly involve the conservation of birds of prey.

We would like to thank Norfolk Constabulary for the hard work involved in bringing this case to court.

NGO disciplinary matters are decided by our disciplinary committee, and decisions made on a case-by-case basis. More information on the NGO’s disciplinary procedure can be found here: https://www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk/policy/ngo-disciplinary-procedure