BREEDING CRIMINALS

 » Crooks were exposed after DNA tests proved birds were not related » Peregrines snatched from nests were sold for up to £25k

- SARAH VESTY

A POLICE officer's husband and son who were caught selling peregrine falcon chicks illegally were snared by DNA evidence taken from the birds.

Part-time gamekeeper Timothy Hall, 48, and son Lewis, 23, previously admitted flogging the protected birds from the family's home in Berwickshire for sums of up to £25,700.

The duo appeared at Jedburgh Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing but the case was deferred after they admitted failing to declare their ill-gotten gains to HMRC.

The court heard that Scottish peregrine falcons are highly sought after in the Middle East, where they are used for racing.

The alarm was raised about potential egg and chick thefts from wild nests in the south of Scotland by George Smith of the Raptor Study Group.

He had grown concerned that several nests had failed to produce any offspring when they had previously done so.

Police visited several sites with George, including one at Borthwick Quarry in Duns which had four eggs in the nest in April 2021.

They spotted marks in the gravel that suggested someone had recently climbed up to it. Similar evidence was found at a separate nesting site in Hutton in Berwickshire.

Scottish SPCA officers carried out a raid at the Hall residence in May 2021. They were greeted by Timot Hall's police officer wife Suzanne, who let them inside and said: "I knew this was coming."