Gamekeeper fined in England’s first Hen Harrier persecution case
A landmark conviction at York Magistrates’ Court has exposed coordinated attempts to kill protected Hen Harriers on a Yorkshire grouse moor and intensified calls for tighter regulation of gamebird shooting.
A head gamekeeper working on an estate in the Yorkshire Dales National Park has been fined after pleading guilty to conspiring to kill Hen Harriers, in what is the first successful prosecution of its kind in England.
Racster Dingwall, head gamekeeper on the Conistone and Grassington Estate, appeared at York Magistrates’ Court on 29 January, where he admitted two offences linked to an attempted shooting at a Hen Harrier winter roost in October 2024.
Covert evidence captures a coordinated attempt to kill Hen Harriers
The case centres on footage and sound recordings lawfully gathered by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Investigations team on 2 October 2024. The material shows Dingwall and two other men arriving at dusk at a known Hen Harrier roost site, all dressed in camouflage and carrying shotguns.
Hen Harriers use traditional communal roosts during winter, gathering in dense vegetation such as sedge or reed beds at dusk before dispersing again at dawn. Over many years, these sites on grouse moors have been repeatedly linked to illegal shooting.
Covert radio recordings reveal the men coordinating their positions around the roost, often speaking in coded language as they attempted to locate birds and determine where to shoot. During the exchanges, they are also heard discussing other protected species shot earlier that day, including a Buzzard and a Raven.
Avoiding tagged birds to evade detection
Crucially, the recordings show the group deliberately avoiding any Hen Harrier fitted with a satellite tag, acknowledging that killing a tagged bird would attract unwanted attention from the authorities.
When a Hen Harrier carrying a satellite tag is seen dropping into the roost – described on the recordings as having ‘a box on it’ – the men decide not to kill it. Instead, warning shots are fired to scare the bird away, which can clearly be heard on the footage.
Moments later, an untagged Hen Harrier is spotted. RSPB footage shows Dingwall loading his gun and walking towards the roost. A single shot is then heard, followed by congratulatory radio comments, including Dingwall saying he was confident the bird had not been tagged.
Charges, guilty plea and sentence
Dingwall was charged with possession of an article capable of being used to commit an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and with encouraging or assisting in the commission of that offence.
After a legal ruling in September 2025 confirmed that the RSPB’s covert video and sound recordings were admissible, Dingwall pleaded guilty to both charges. He was fined £400 for each offence, ordered to pay a £320 victim surcharge and £400 in court costs – a total financial penalty of £1,520.
No charges were brought against the other men present, who were interviewed by police but declined to answer questions.
A wider pattern of persecution on grouse moors
The RSPB says the case highlights how difficult raptor persecution crimes are to detect, as they typically take place in remote locations, during unsociable hours and far from public view.
According to the charity, more than 100 Hen Harriers have been confirmed or suspected to have been illegally killed on or near grouse moors in the UK in the past five years, with many incidents only coming to light through satellite tagging.
Calls for licensing of gamebird shooting
Following the conviction, the RSPB renewed its call for the introduction of licensing for all gamebird shooting across the UK, arguing that voluntary measures have failed to prevent repeated wildlife crime.
Similar legislation introduced in Scotland in 2024 allows estates suspected of raptor persecution to lose their licence to shoot grouse, using a civil burden of proof. The RSPB says this approach targets persistent offenders while allowing responsible operators to continue.
The fate of Ataksak
In a further tragic twist, the satellite-tagged Hen Harrier deliberately scared from the roost was an RSPB-tagged bird named Ataksak, which had fledged from a nest in the Forest of Bowland just three months earlier.
In January 2025, Ataksak was found dead close to another grouse moor in North Yorkshire. Toxicological analysis revealed she had ingested a highly toxic mixture of pesticides known as the ‘Nidderdale cocktail’, which has been linked to numerous bird of prey persecution incidents. That case remains under police investigation, with no known connection to this prosecution.
The RSPB has thanked North Yorkshire Police, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the Crown Prosecution Service for their role in investigating and prosecuting the case, and continues to urge the public to report suspected incidents of bird of prey persecution.
January 2026
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