Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
A callous pensioner who was caught encouraging his pet dog to enter live badger setts has been ordered to wear an electronic tag and stay within his home overnight.
Peter Marshall was spotted allowing his terrier to enter the setts on repeated occasions at two secluded rural locations in Gifford and a Haddington in East Lothian last year. The 77-year-old was snared when footage of his activities was recorded on a wildlife camera that had been set up by a private landowner near to the village of Gifford.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the OAP was also spotted “hiding” behind a tree by a concerned walker while his dog bothered the protected badgers on a separate occasion. The landowner handed the footage he had captured over to the police and Marshall was later arrested and charged.
The pensioner pleaded guilty to interfering with badgers setts by causing his dog to enter them with reckless disregard his actions would have relevant consequences during a court appearance last month. The offences committed between February and April last year were prosecuted under Section 3 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.
Marshall returned to the dock for sentencing on Wednesday where his defence agent said his client was a former nuclear safety employee and has five grandchildren. The lawyer told the court Marshall is active within his community and carries out a paper round in the mornings to help his local newsagent.
Sheriff John Cook slammed Marshall as having “as sense of arrogance” and was told he had sent a letter to his local paper complaining about the coverage his case had previously received. Sheriff Cook said the pensioner had committed “a serious offence” and he could have inflicted “horrific injuries” on both the badgers and his dog if they had come into conflict.
Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox.
The sheriff sentenced Marshall to an order where he will be electronically tagged and will have to stay within his home between 8pm and 6am for the next 108 days as an alternative to custody. Last month prosecutor Karen Rollo told the court a private land owner “had erected a camera to watch over a very active badger sett” at Bolton Mains Wood, near Gifford, East Lothian.
Ms Rollo said both the nocturnal animals and their setts are protected under the legislation. The fiscal depute said the land owner had witnessed Marshall walking his dog in the area and was said to have been left “alarmed” when he said his dog was “attracted to badger setts”.
The court heard “the accused was captured on the wildlife camera with his dog” and was seen moving branches from the entrance to the sett with his walking stick to allow the terrier to enter. Ms Rollo said: “At no point did he attempt to get his dog out of the sett.”
Join Edinburgh Live’s Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sentstraight to your messages.
The landowner subsequently attended his local police station and handed over the footage. Marshall, of Gifford, East Lothian, was also seen by walkers hiding behind a tree as his dog entered the same sett and reported what they had seen in March last year.
The pensioner was also spotted standing at the entrance to a badger sett by a dog walker near to Traprain Law on the outskirts of Haddington the following month. Ms Rollo said: “He stated to her he had a dog down one of the setts and she stated to him ‘that didn’t sound very good for the badger or the dog’.
“He replied ‘the dog’s a terrier and that’s what the are bred to do’.”
The woman took a photograph of Marshall’s vehicle and reported the incident to the police. The court was told members of the Scottish Badgers charity had attend the site and found the sett was active and the protected animals had been present at the time.
