Game farm fined £40,000

A game farm and its director have been fined £40,000, four years after a buzzard was poisoned with a banned pesticide in Devon. 

Ashley Game Farm in Chulmleigh admitted five charges, including using banned pesticide carbofuran, at Exeter Magistrate Court. As well as the £40,000 fine, the business was ordered to pay £590 in legal costs. Director Christopher Hodgson pleaded guilty to storing pesticides without permission and was fined a further £1,500 and £150 in costs. 

The discovery of the dead raptor, which had been eating a baited pheasant carcass, sparked the investigation in 2020. The buzzard, a protected species, was found on top of the carcass near a release pen near Hollocombe, Devon, the court heard. Both birds tested positive for carbofuran, and traces of the highly toxic pesticide were found during a search of the farm. 

Ashley Game Farm admitted storing pesticide without valid authorisation or permission; using the banned substance carbofuran; two charges of using a biocide without authorisation and one of possessing an unauthorised veterinary product between 2020 and 2021. 

PC Jenny Mashford, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said it was a “very positive outcome in our fight against wildlife crime”.