A Shetland fisherman has admitted clubbing 21 grey seal pups to death on a remote uninhabited island.
James Stewart, a crewman on one of Britain’s largest fishing boats, was spotted by Scottish Natural Heritage staff using a fence post to smash in the seals’ heads on the isle of East Linga, on November 29, 2008.
Appearing at Lerwick Sheriff Court on Wednesday, Stewart, of Symbister, Whalsay, pled guilty to mutilating, beating and crushing the baby seals with intent to cause unnecessary suffering.
Stewart’s co-accused John Eunson, 44, of Symbister, had his not guilty plea accepted by the Crown.
Sheriff Graeme Napier told Stewart he took the case extremely seriously and warned him that he was considering sending him to jail. The maximum sentence under the Wild Mammals Act is a £5,000 fine and/or six months prison term for each animal harmed.
Stewart was unable to give an explanation for his actions. Defence agent Tommy Allan said: “He realises this was a big mistake. It’s something he should not have done and he most certainly won’t do it again.”
Procurator fiscal Duncan Mackenzie told the court that Scottish Natural Heritage staff had been carrying out survey of grey seal pups at East Linga, one of the best pupping sites for grey seals in Shetland.
He said: “They saw the accused raise a fence post over his head…and bring it down with extreme violence four or five times to the ground. The accused then became aware of the presence of the survey boat. Dropping the post, he appeared to run off in an attempt to hide.”
The police were contacted and they declared the island a crime scene, returning to carry out a forensic examination of the 21 dead seals they found.
“Each pup had extensive head injuries. There were several depressions on the skull…consistent with being struck repeatedly. One of the pups effectively had its face moulded to the rock it was lying on, such had been the impact,” Mr Mackenzie said.
When interviewed by the police, Stewart insisted the only reason for killing the seals had been that they were suffering and he was putting them out of his misery. Stewart was described as a crofter and fisherman who works on the pelagic trawler Altaire as well as keeping sheep on East Linga.
Mr Allan said: “Mr Stewart accepts that he knew that these animals were healthy. He accepts that this was something which he should not have done and he has not instructed me to put forward any good reason why he has done this.”
Sheriff Napier deferred sentence until March 25. He told Stewart: “You should be aware that custody is a possible outcome. I take a very serious view of the offending in this case. I can see no justification for it whatsoever.”
Scottish Natural Heritage area officer Karen Hall, who was in court, welcomed the guilty plea. She said: "I am pleased that the court is taking this seriously. It sends a very clear message that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable in our society.
"We were out doing our annual grey seal pupping survey, and we saw a person on the beach clubbing seals. Following further investigations we were horrified to find 21 pups killed in a brutal manner."
