A 49-year-old pigeon fancier from Sunderland has pleaded guilty to three
charges of illegally using and storing a banned pesticide, at Newcastle Crown
Court on Friday 12 April. The Individual was fined £200 for each of the three
charges, to run concurrently. On 2 February 2012, officers from Northumbria
Police, assisted by Natural England as part of the Government’s Wildlife
Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS), and executed a search warrant, following
intelligence handed to police by the RSPB, focussing on persecution of birds of
prey.
During the search, the individual admitted to having some poison in an outbuilding attached to his house. A plastic container, containing a substance labelled as a pigeon multi-vitamin supplement, was recovered. Forensic tests by the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) confirmed the substance to be carbofuran. Carbofuran is an incredibly poisonous substance which was banned in 2001. It is highly toxic to animals and humans - breathing its dust, swallowing it or contact with it can be extremely dangerous. The accused later claimed that he had been given the substance to use as a rodenticide and applied it to chocolate in order to poison mice on his allotment.
Paul Cantwell, Natural England’s Species Enforcement Officer said: “Storing pesticides out of their original containers and using them when you have no idea what they contain and without instruction are all serious offences under pesticide legislation. “Use of such chemicals is highly irresponsible and could easily result in non-target animals, or even pets being poisoned. It can also put members of the public seriously at risk if they handle baits. Sadly, we still see a number of cases where raptors and other species are poisoned after ingesting banned pesticides - which have been illegally applied to bait for consumption.”
PC Paul Holden from Sunderland Area Command said: "Northumbria Police works closely with other agencies to reduce the number of crimes against wild birds and other wildlife and will continue to do so. We will not tolerate crime against wildlife and any incidents which are reported to us will be investigated thoroughly. The public can help us by providing information they may have about people who are involved in committing offences so we can identify and prosecute them. This was an intelligence led operation utilising our own skills and abilities in partnership with the unique expertise of the RSPB and Natural England.
“The recovered Carbofuran is clearly an extremely dangerous substance and is therefore regulated accordingly. This prosecution sends out a message that offences of this nature are taken very seriously and that ourselves and partner agencies are working together to provide effective and efficient investigation and prosecution."
Paul Adamson of the HSE’s Chemicals Regulation Directorate said: “This is good example of regulators working together to tackle those who break the law on pesticides and unnecessarily put themselves and others at risk. Controls on pesticides are there to protect human health and the environment and we hope that this prosecution sends a clear message to anyone who is storing or using illegal pesticides.”
Carbofuran was previously approved for commercial agricultural purposes, but has never been allowed for amateur use and was never available to the general public. All products which contained carbofuran were banned for storage and use on 31 December 2001. All pesticide products require an approval before they can be stored and used in the UK. In addition, all pesticides must be stored in their original container.
During the search, the individual admitted to having some poison in an outbuilding attached to his house. A plastic container, containing a substance labelled as a pigeon multi-vitamin supplement, was recovered. Forensic tests by the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) confirmed the substance to be carbofuran. Carbofuran is an incredibly poisonous substance which was banned in 2001. It is highly toxic to animals and humans - breathing its dust, swallowing it or contact with it can be extremely dangerous. The accused later claimed that he had been given the substance to use as a rodenticide and applied it to chocolate in order to poison mice on his allotment.
Paul Cantwell, Natural England’s Species Enforcement Officer said: “Storing pesticides out of their original containers and using them when you have no idea what they contain and without instruction are all serious offences under pesticide legislation. “Use of such chemicals is highly irresponsible and could easily result in non-target animals, or even pets being poisoned. It can also put members of the public seriously at risk if they handle baits. Sadly, we still see a number of cases where raptors and other species are poisoned after ingesting banned pesticides - which have been illegally applied to bait for consumption.”
PC Paul Holden from Sunderland Area Command said: "Northumbria Police works closely with other agencies to reduce the number of crimes against wild birds and other wildlife and will continue to do so. We will not tolerate crime against wildlife and any incidents which are reported to us will be investigated thoroughly. The public can help us by providing information they may have about people who are involved in committing offences so we can identify and prosecute them. This was an intelligence led operation utilising our own skills and abilities in partnership with the unique expertise of the RSPB and Natural England.
“The recovered Carbofuran is clearly an extremely dangerous substance and is therefore regulated accordingly. This prosecution sends out a message that offences of this nature are taken very seriously and that ourselves and partner agencies are working together to provide effective and efficient investigation and prosecution."
Paul Adamson of the HSE’s Chemicals Regulation Directorate said: “This is good example of regulators working together to tackle those who break the law on pesticides and unnecessarily put themselves and others at risk. Controls on pesticides are there to protect human health and the environment and we hope that this prosecution sends a clear message to anyone who is storing or using illegal pesticides.”
Carbofuran was previously approved for commercial agricultural purposes, but has never been allowed for amateur use and was never available to the general public. All products which contained carbofuran were banned for storage and use on 31 December 2001. All pesticide products require an approval before they can be stored and used in the UK. In addition, all pesticides must be stored in their original container.
Richard Ball Head of Environment at CRS commented ‘ Many organisations
may not consider pest control legislation as part of their ISO14001 EMS, but as
with all contractors their activities should be monitored’
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