Scot who illegally flogged peregrine falcon chicks ordered to repay £27,000

Lewis Hall, 24, sold the wild birds of prey for sums of up to £25,700.

A man convicted of illegally flogging peregrine falcon chicks has been ordered to pay back £27,000 he made from selling the birds of prey.

Lewis Hall, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, sold the birds, which were snatched from the wild, from his home or sums of up to £25,700. Hall was brought to justice earlier this year after DNA evidence taken from the nests of birds linked back to the 24-year-old culprit.

He was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work over 15 months during sentencing at Jedburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year. Additionally, Hall was banned from possessing or having any bird of prey under his control for five years.

The figure which Hall will be expected to pay back was based on an amount which the court deems as being available. Court papers show Hall accepted that he be benefited from “general criminal conduct” by around £110,000.

The Crown has the power to apply to the court to extend the order to seize money and any assets Hall acquires in the future to pay back the full amount he made from his crimes.

Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for specialist casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: "The sale of peregrine falcons has become an extremely lucrative business. Lewis Hall took advantage of that for his own financial gain and to the detriment of the wild peregrine falcon population in the South of Scotland.

“However, even after a conviction was secured in this matter, the Crown commenced Proceeds of Crime action to ensure the funds Hall obtained illegally were pursued. Prosecution of those involved in financial crime does not stop at criminal conviction and sentencing.

“The funds recovered from Lewis Hall will be added to those already gathered from Proceeds of Crime, to be re-invested in the community by Scottish Ministers through the CashBack for Communities programme.”

The court heard how in April 2021, a member of the Lothian and Borders Raptor Study Group alerted police to suspicious failures of peregrine falcon nests in the Berwickshire area, which had previously been productive. Officers later investigated two nesting sites and discovered they had been disturbed.

A number of eggs were reported missing from both locations. A police search of Lewis Hall’s father’s home subsequently found a total of seven peregrine falcon chicks as well as a number of other birds of prey.

Further enquiries concluded that none of the birds, which are highly-sought after in the Middle East for racing, were captive-born and had been taken from the wild. Under legislation, selling captive-bred peregrine falcons is legal but possessing or selling wild birds is unlawful.

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