Walkers pass through the Auch Estate on the West Highland Way

Walkers pass through the Auch Estate on the West Highland Way

A farm manager has pleaded guilty to possessing a highly toxic pesticide that has been banned in the UK for 11 years.

Tom McKellar, 50, admitted possessing carbofuran at Oban Sheriff Court. The offence occurred on the Auch estate, through which walkers on the West Highland Way pass.

The case resulted from the discovery by hillwalkers of the body of a golden eagle on the slopes of Beinn Udlaidh, near Bridge of Orchy, in June 2009.

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland investigations staff, accompanied by a wildlife crime officer from Strathclyde Police, retrieved the body as evidence.

Tests by the Scottish Government laboratories revealed that the adult golden eagle had been poisoned with carbofuran, which has been illegal to possess or use in the UK since 2001.

A  search of land and buildings on the Auch Estate, led by the police, with the assistance of RSPB Scotland, Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Scottish Government and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, revealed a dead fox, confirmed as poisoned, and a sheep carcass laced with carbofuran.

At the hearing, procurator fiscal Kate Fleming said McKellar had admitted to police that a gamebag found on the porch of his home with a container holding carbofuran belonged to him. He also admitted that he set out meat laced with the poison as bait for foxes.

The trial will resume on 29 May after social enquiry results have been prepared.

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