Cornwall Bat Group committee members voting page

Since the last bat crime report which was published in April 2007, over 125 new incidents have been reported. In the period covered by the last report (just under 3 years), there were five successful prosecutions which carried a total of £3,400 in fines. Since January 2007, about half that period, there have been seven successful prosecutions with fines and costs totalling £16,158. Although an increase in prosecutions is not a reason for celebration on its own, it perhaps indicates that there is an increased awareness of the impacts of bat related crime.

 We have had excellent support from Kelvin Jones, Operation Bat Project Officer for the National Wildlife Crime Unit since 2007, helping to push through appropriate cases to court and follow up on incidents reported within the police. Unfortunately, the NWCU has decided not to grant any further extensions due to lack of funding and there is now no single staff member at the NWCU dedicated to bat issues. This makes it even more important for us to continue with the Investigations Project over the next year so that we can monitor the impact this has on how bat related crime is dealt with in the police.

There have been two good results in court this year. The first was in February 2008 at Bedwell Park, Essendon in Hertfordshire. As reported in Bat news, property developer P J Livesey Group was fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs after pleading guilty to illegal damage / destruction of a bat roost. The case was taken through to court in part due to the excellent work of the Bat Group.

The second case went to the magistrates court in Llandudno in June 2008. A roofer, Malcolm Gibson, pleaded guilty to two offences of illegal damage / destruction of a bat roost after completing works on the roof of St Sannans Church, Llansannan in January without obtaining a licence to do so. Roosts of brown long-eared bats and Natterer’s bats were damaged / destroyed. He pleaded guilty and after representations, citing a breakdown of communication with the surveyor, he was fined £2,500 per roost and ordered to pay £65 costs. The Wildlife Crime Officer for the case considered that the inclusion of an impact statement prepared by BCT was an important factor in the successful outcome of this case.

The Investigations Project is a vital part of our work, yet it continues be an area that we struggle to fund, and so we are reliant on the support of bat groups to help us to keep this project going.  BCT needs £24,845 to run the Investigations Project in 2009, of which we hope to raise £15,000 from Bat Groups.  Any support your bat group is able to give would make a big difference to what we are able to achieve.

We would be grateful if you could discuss the project with your fellow bat group members and let me know if it is something your group may be able to support. A donation of £600 would fund training for 20+ police liaison officers. A donation of £2,070 would fund the project for a month.

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