DNA recovery used to track down man after goshawks shot

Francis Addison, 72, from South Park Weeting, in Norfolk was found to be in possession of dead birds of prey, after being tracked down by police and the RSPB investigations unit.

Five young goshawks were found on Monday, January 16, having been left in a parking area near the B1106 in Kings Forest near Bury St Edmunds.

X-rays showed all five birds had suffered injuries from multiple pieces of shot. (Image: Suffolk Constabulary)

RSPB investigations officer Tom Grose offered support to Suffolk Constabulary in examining this case.

He commended the police for a "brilliant job" carried out by their crime scene investigation unit.

"They really came up trumps because they got a DNA hit," added Mr Grose.

"That's the first time human DNA has ever been recovered from a persecuted bird of prey."

As a result of a "game changing" post-mortem, police ran the DNA through their databases and found a match.

Francis Addison, 72, from South Park Weeting, in Norfolk. (Image: Peter Walsh, Newsquest)

This enabled them to obtain a warrant and visit Addison's address, where it was found that he was in possession of two air rifles and six animal traps.

Addison, a part-time gamekeeper who had served with the military, claimed he intended to call the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) after finding the birds but "panicked".

Mr Grose said: "It can be a bit of a lottery in court, because there are no sentencing guidelines for these offences."

At Norwich Magistrates' Court on Thursday, June 28, Addison was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to pay £1,080 compensation, £105 costs and a £154 victim surcharge.

Mr Grose added: "I hope the message here is two-fold.

"It shows that the police take these cases really seriously and a lot of effort is put into the investigation.

"And secondly, I hope it warns other criminals that you could potentially be looking at a prison sentence."