Former gamekeeper cleared in riddle of shot 'wildcats'

wildcats.

Sheriff David Kelbie said that sufficient reasonable doubt had been

expressed by an expert witness, Mr Richard Balharry, 53, chief warden of

the Nature Conservancy Council in the north-east, that the animals were

of the species Felis Sylvestras as defined under the Wildlife and

Countryside Act, 1981.

Mr George Milne, 78, a retired wood merchant and former gamekeeper, of

Deer Cottage, Collonach Wood, Strachan, Banchory, had denied

intentionally and without lawful authority shooting a female wildcat and

two wildcat kittens on the Dinnet to Logie Coldstone road on Deeside in

the early hours of August 16, the animals being protected under Schedule

Five of the Act.

Sheriff Kelbie said: ''The commission of the crime has to be

established beyond all reasonable doubt and I found it impossible to go

beyond this. I have to give the accused benefit of the doubt and acquit

him.''

In his summing up, Mr Jim McKay, depute fiscal, submitted that

identification of an animal was similar to that of a person in a

criminal case and one did not need to be 100% sure.

Commenting that conviction could only be possible if there was no

reasonable doubt, Sheriff Kelbie said of Mr Balharry's evidence: ''He

did not depart from saying he had reasonable doubt. I have to rely on

his expert evidence.''

Mr Peter Shepherd, of Aberdeen, defending, said evidence would be

given on behalf of his client.

But Sheriff Kelbie told him: ''On the basis of the evidence, I will

not require to hear it.''

Saying that before he could convict he had to be satisfied that the

animals killed were proved to be wildcats, Sheriff Kelbie said that, on

the basis of what he saw in court, he would say they were wildcats but

it had not been proved they were wildcats under terms of the Act.

''Mr Balharry, who was the best witness, had examined the animals and

had expressed reasonable doubt as to whether they were wildcats.''

Constable Fergus Storrier, 26, of Ballater, said Mr Milne said in a

statement: ''I was totally unaware that wildcats were protected in any

way. It is my idea that they are too common and they are destructive as

far as pheasants and young birds are concerned.''

He then stated how he and a friend, Mr James Farquhar, 39, of Annfield

Mill, Alford, had been shooting rabbits when they spotted the wildcats

on the road. He told how another witness, physiologist Dr Paul Taylor,

35, of the Old School House, Dinnet, had arrived on the scene and he had

shown the wildcats to him.

In evidence, Mr Balharry said he made regular visits to Dinnet Nature

Reserve, which extended to 3800 acres, and knew a great deal about

wildcats.

Questioned by Mr McKay, he said: ''It was impossible to be a 100%

certain that the wildcats were of the Felis Sylvestras species.'' He

spoke of the thin long tail of the animals while the tail of a Felis

Sylvestras would be bushier.

Wildcats could breed with ferral cats and could produce a hybrid.

Cross-examined, he said he could not tell if the animals were of the

Felis Sylvestras species by just looking at them and he had a reasonable

doubt.