Two gamekeepers charged over Ruabon Moor snares
North Wales Police say two men will appear in court over alleged illegal snare-setting, with incidents said to span July 2025 to July 2026.
Two men have been charged with alleged illegal snare-setting on Ruabon Moor in North Wales and are due to appear before Llandudno Magistrates' Court on 18 November.
North Wales Police Rural Crime Team confirmed that Stuart Hart, 50, of Penycae, and Jack Yates, 23, of Overton Road, Ruabon, each face allegations of setting a snare to injure a wild animal. Hart is accused in connection with incidents in August 2025 and July 2026, while Yates is accused over an incident in July 2025.
The charges are allegations. Neither man has entered a plea in the material available for this article, and no court has determined the facts. The species allegedly targeted, the number and type of devices, and whether any animal was found caught have not been disclosed in the police confirmation reported by local media.
Dr Ruth Tingay, writing for Raptor Persecution UK, describes both defendants as gamekeepers and identifies Ruabon Moor as a driven grouse moor. Those details come from her reporting rather than the short police statement and should not be treated as part of the formal charge wording.
Police linked the case to the animal-welfare purpose of the Welsh ban.
The legislation aims to prevent the inflicting of acute pain and suffering on any animal caught.
North Wales Police Rural Crime Team, as reported by Wales Times
Wales prohibited the use of snares and glue traps under the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023. The snare provisions came into force on 17 October 2023, making it an offence to use a snare to capture a wild animal. Welsh Government explanatory material says the maximum penalty on summary conviction is six months' imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.
The legislation was introduced because a snare cannot distinguish between a target animal and other wildlife or domestic animals. Even a nominally restraining device can tighten, cause injury or leave an animal exposed for a prolonged period. The law applies to the act of using a snare, not only to cases in which an animal is proved to have died.
The forthcoming hearing will be the first stage at which the charges can be answered in court. Details in a charging announcement are necessarily limited, and the prosecution will have to prove each alleged offence to the criminal standard. Until then, reporting must preserve the presumption of innocence.
The allegations arise on land managed for driven grouse shooting, but the Raptor Persecution UK blog post does not report a raptor victim or add verified evidence of raptor persecution in this case. The significance is instead the enforcement of Wales's relatively new nationwide snare ban in an upland shooting landscape. The court listing should clarify pleas and the precise statutory counts; any further reporting will need to distinguish evidence heard in court from allegations repeated outside it.
31 Oct 2026
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