Possession of badger’s head brings £150 fine

A MAN caught in possession of a badger’s head was yesterday fined £150 at Paisley Sheriff Court. Experts who examined the head found it had been stuffed by an amateur.

Sheriff Ronald Smith was told that Andrew Glen, unemployed, of Mull Avenue, Glenburn, Paisley, had a previous conviction for hunting rabbits.

Glen, 29, pled guilty to having a badger’s head in his possession when police raided his home on October 13 last year.

Under the provisions of the Protection of Badgers Act, introduced in 1992, he could have been fined up to £5000.

The court was told that SSPCA inspectors saw the badger’s head when they visited Glen’s home in connection with another matter. A search warrant was granted and police who went to the house seized snares, nets, and clothing associated with hunting.

The head was examined by experts at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, who concluded the taxidermy had been carried out by an amateur. The head had been stuffed with newspapers dated January 1993, which was when they believed the work had been carried out.

When cautioned and charged, Glen claimed he had found the head on a skip.

Mr David Tod, solicitor, for Glen, said the equipment taken from the house related to his client’s hobby of hunting for rabbits with ferrets.