John Orrey: Bastard Of The Month

A man who killed protected birds because he believed they were a risk has avoided jail.

John Orrey, 63, was snared by undercover cameras that captured his crimes in Kneeton in January last year. Nottingham Magistrates' Court was shown footage of Orrey recovering two buzzards from a cage that he had beaten to death, with two other dove carcasses also being discovered.

Orrey's defence solicitor said: "What he [the defendant] says to me is that spring time, March and April, is time when eggs and young game birds start to be taken by birds including buzzards.

"I would suggest Orrey wasn't educated on those stats [because he killed the birds in January].

What the hell does that matter? 

"In weeks leading up to the matters, Mr Orrey said he had been bating (sic) the traps with a view to catching birds. The plan was to reduce the population to prevent less of risk to young birds.

"We all know what happened and he says the buzzards posed a risk and that's why he behaved as he did.

"He is remorseful and has no previous history. There has been no repeat behaviour since the January incidents.

"This isn't a case of deliberate causing of suffering, it was not prolonged."

The footage is here - it's utterly sickening, and I can only assume the magistrates, having seen it, must have been struggling not to laugh at the defence claims...

But then, of course, they didn't. Nor did they point out that the defence solicitor was clearly a bald-faced liar in claiming that. Nor did they give this vile individual the sentence he deserved.   

The presiding magistrate said Orrey's fear of going to prison at the age of 63 would surely deter him from crime in the future.

She sentenced him to 20 weeks in custody, suspended for 12 months. He must pay a fine of £1,000, costs of £700 and £180 compensation. Orrey also had his shotgun licence revoked.

It's no deterrent. But hopefully - though there's no mention of this - he's been summarily sacked and will never ever work as a gamekeeper again.