Gamekeeper accused of badger kills

A gamekeeper on an estate frequently visited by the Duke of Edinburgh is to appear in court today charged with killing badgers.

Fifteen of the protected creatures were allegedly found dead on the Holker Hall estate at Cartmel in Cumbria.

John Drummond, 32, faces charges brought by the RSPCA under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, including illegally killing badgers, cruelly ill-treating badgers, attempting to kill or injure wild birds, killing or taking wild birds using a caged trap and attempting to take wild animals using an illegal self-locking snare.

• The Times 07/06/99 page 6