Adrian Blackmore: Packham praises the activities of saboteurs

The start of the grouse season should be a time for celebration in our uplands, bringing together rural communities for whom it is so important both socially and economically. For many moors shooting on 12 August, that was indeed the case, but sadly not for those that found themselves the target of saboteurs. As one saboteur group's social media post stated that evening: "What a glorious day it's been for us. Today is the official start of the grouse season, and as is tradition, we have been out in force with our friends to shut them down."

Saboteurs have a complete disregard for the lives and rights of others. Regardless of whether one disagrees with an activity, they have no right to take the law into their own hands in order to prevent a perfectly legal pursuit from taking place. No one should have to be subjected to their unlawful and selfish activities, with behaviour that is invariably unpleasant and threatening, and abuse hurled even when there are children present, as is often the case in the beating line during the school holidays. And because their actions are illegal, they hide behind balaclavas and facemasks, with non-descript clothing that is invariably black to make them appear more intimidating, and to try to ensure their anonymity.

Aggravated trespass is a criminal offence, and individuals can be arrested if they are intentionally obstructing, disrupting, or intimidating others from carrying out lawful activities. Those that support their actions on social media are just as guilty as the perpetrators on the ground, with some positively rabid comments inciting the damage and disruption that has been taking place on grouse moors in both the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District since the start of the season.

Staggeringly, Chris Packham has been one of those praising the recent disruption of a shoot in the Peak District. A post on the Hunt Saboteurs Association's website on 17 August, stating that "Beefy Botham out for a duck as sabs storm Peak District shoots", was re-tweeted by Packham with the comment: "Oh dear, what a shame, next… More top work by @HuntSabs". Surely even the BBC can't ignore one of its presenters publicly supporting and encouraging the criminal activities of others, and this is something that we will be taking up in the strongest possible terms with the Corporation. The Alliance's condemnation of Packham's support for the actions of the saboteurs has been covered extensively in The Telegraph, Mail, Mirror and other media outlets.

The only way in which we might deter saboteurs is to take legal action against those responsible for the criminal damage or aggravated trespass that has taken place, but to do so they must first be identifiable. That is why the Countryside Alliance successfully lobbied for an amendment to the Policing and Crime Act 2017 which allows a senior police officer to give oral authorisation, under Section 60AA of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1984, for a constable to order saboteurs to remove face coverings to prevent, or control them from carrying out a criminal offence.

Whilst the police responded quickly to saboteur activity in the Yorkshire Dales on 12 August, there are no reports of them ordering the removal of face coverings, despite the saboteurs' social media post implying they had failed in their attempts to do so. It is critical to be able to identify those who are responsible for preventing a lawful day's shooting from taking place - at a considerable financial loss to those taking part - and for the significant damage caused to legal, humane, traps used for predator control on the moor; traps that benefit the many threatened species of ground nesting birds that share this unique habitat with red grouse to breed.

Saboteurs and those that support them have no place in civilised society and there needs to be a consistent approach by police across the country to ensure they are dealt with decisively and effectively. The Alliance will continue to make every effort to ensure this happens.

You can support the vital work that the Campaign for Shooting carries out by donating today.