A gamekeeper has been found guilty of killing and injuring protected birds of prey on an Aberdeenshire estate.
George Mutch, 48, was secretly filmed catching raptors in two bird traps while working on Kildrummy Estate near Alford in 2012.
Hidden cameras were set up by the RSPB as part scientific research into how a Larsen and a larger multi-catch trap were being used on the land.
The damning footage revealed that Mutch had killed a juvenile goshawk by taking it out of a trap and hitting it with a stick several times on the head.
He had placed a jack daw and jay bird in a decoy compartment in the Larsen trap on separate occasions to lure raptors into wooden cages set up in pheasant dens.
The gamekeeper was filmed putting a buzzard and another goshawk in white sacks then walking out of view of the cameras on two other occasions.
Giving evidence yesterday, Mutch told the court he had used the jack daw and jay as decoy birds to attract other small birds of the same type.
He said this was intended to stop them eating pheasant feed scattered on the ground for young pheasants owned by the estate.
He claimed to have killed the goshawk caught in the Larsen trap because he believed it to be seriously injured.
He told the court: “When I walked up to the cage, I noticed that the goshawk’s beak was a funny shape and I discovered the lower part of the beak was broken – fractured.”
Defence advocate Mark Moir asked: “Did that cause you any concern for the goshawk?”
He replied: “Yes it did. Well I didn’t think it would be able to feed because raptors tear their prey.
“I thought the bird was severely injured and I thought the bird wouldn’t survive.
“So I decided to dispatch the bird. I struck it on the head with a stick.”
Sheriff Noel McPartlin said he was of the view that the preponderance of evidence pointed to a scheme of trapping birds of prey.
And he said he believed that the gamekeeper’s attempt to justify killing the goshawk was just a “convenient lie”.
Mutch, of Auchnavenie, Kildrummy, was found guilty of four charges at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
He was convicted of using traps to capture wild birds and found guilty of three charges of intentionally or recklessly killing or injuring two goshawks and a common buzzard.
The court heard he faces a possible jail sentence. Sentence was deferred for reports until next month.