A man accused of illegally trapping an otter that later died will face no criminal proceedings, it has been confirmed.
The Crown has dropped its case against David Bayley over the alleged incident at the Glenforsa Hotel on Mull.
Mr Bayley had been accused of deliberately or recklessly capturing a wild otter – which is a European protected species – when he set a double entry live catch trap in the grounds of the hotel in January.
The 56-year-old had been looking after the hotel’s hens while owners Brendan and Allison Walsh were on holiday in California for a month.
Last night, Mr Walsh said the chickens had started to go missing, so Mr Bayley put out the humane trap to find out what was taking them.
But when he went back to check the next morning, he found an otter inside, which appeared to be unwell.
Mr Walsh said: “He phoned the police because he didn’t know what to do. They were busy. He tried to contact Mull Otter Watch but they weren’t answering their phone.
“He then found the local police officer and told her. She came round later that day and when he returned to the trap the otter was dead.
“He did everything he could but ended up getting charged for it.”
An autopsy was performed on the animal, but the Crown has said it will not provide details of the results.
Mr Walsh added: “People are now assuming the Glenforsa Hotel is trapping otters, which is very unfortunate because most of my clients are wildlife enthusiasts.
“I regularly advise guests where they can view wildlife, including otters. I would never advocate trapping an otter. They are an endangered species and they are a big reason that people come to the isle of Mull.”
A Crown Office spokesman confirmed they would not be proceeding with the case.
He said: “It is the duty of the Crown to keep cases under review and after full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no further proceedings taken at this time.”
A police spokeswoman added: “We can confirm that a report was made in person to the local police officer on Mull about an otter found injured that day.
“An investigation was carried out, which included liaison with wildlife crime experts and Scottish Natural Heritage. Subsequently, a man was reported to the procurator fiscal under section four of the Conservation Act.
“Having fully interrogated our system to trace calls made to 101 on January 12 2015, there is no reason why Mr Bayley was unable to contact officers on this number.”
Mr Bayley declined to comment.