Man sentenced after multiple badger dens blocked with soil and rocks in Fife

A man has been fined after multiple badger dens were found blocked with soil and rocks in Fife.

Dylan Boyle was seen placing nets on a slope and digging with a spade near active badger setts at a farm near Cupar in January 2024.

The 52-year-old, of Avonbridge was filmed at the farm by investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS).

The court heard he was seen climbing over a wire fence from the field to a sloping bank and began investigating the ground.

Boyle repeatedly went back and forward from the hill to his quadbike and began removing nets before placing them across the site as if he was covering up entrances to a sett.

The site was visited by an ecologist and police officer who found evidence of an active badger sett.

It was later discovered that a number of sett entrances had been blocked with soil and rocks.

Boyle was sentenced at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after being found guilty following an earlier three-day trial of two charges in contravention of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

He has been fined £400 and was also order to pay a £20 victim surcharge.

Iain Batho, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said it was “important” to preserve Scotland’s natural heritage, including the wildlife.

“Badgers are given strict protection by law and it is a criminal offence to interfere with a badger sett either intentionally or recklessly,” he said.

“Dylan Boyle’s actions were deliberate and carried out with a total disregard for the consequences they could have for a protected species.”

He added: “COPFS takes offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 seriously and action will be taken against individuals where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and where it is in the public interest to do so.”