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Wildlife Crime (539A/22)

Request

I would like the details of any arrests and/or seizures made in relation to wildlife crimes. In particular, I’m looking for cases related to poaching, egg poaching, smuggling from overseas/illegal wildlife trade, non-registration of birds and animals that require licensing, and illegal hunting.

If it’s helpful to be even more specific (I am unsure how many cases there may be), poaching, hunting and trade are my top three priorities.

I’d like to see the details of incidents from 2018 onwards. Again, if it’s helpful to specify more, I’m happy to limit the search to 2019 onwards.

I’d like as much information as is possible to be provided with, however I appreciate there are limits with regards to what I can know. The list below outlines the information I’m looking for (in an ideal world!):

– Name of person arrested (if not possible, age and gender would be helpful)

– location of arrest or seizure

– date of arrest or seizure

– details of any items seized

– reason for arrest or seizure

– whether charges were brought

– any other details relevant to the case (e.g. if a smuggler, where the items have come from)

I would like this for crimes that fit the following criteria:

– Took place after 2018

– Relate to wildlife crimes (e.g. illegal poaching, egg poaching, illegal wildlife trade/importation, illegal hunting, keeping species that need licensing without the proper registrations)

Response

I can confirm that some relevant information is held by West Midlands Police (see below and please note. As previously advised, we have only been able to locate and retrieve data for the past 18 months – see below). However, I am withholding any further information in relation to these cases, since it is exempt information, by virtue of the following:

Section 30(1) – Investigations and proceedings conducted by public authorities
Section 40(2) – Personal information

These exemptions and explanatory notes are shown here:

https://www.app.college.police.uk/app-content/information-management/freedom-of-information/#freedom-of-information-exemptions

In line with section 30 above, I am required to complete a Prejudice Test/Public Interest Test (PIT) on disclosure. Please find this PIT attached.

Section 40(2) allows for personal data to be withheld where release would breach the third party’s data protection rights. It would be unfair to release this information where any person could be identified from the data and in this case the right to privacy outweighs any public interest in release.

Case 1:

Date: February 2021
Location: Perry Barr
Seized: Alligator heads

Case 2:

Date: December 2021
Location: Birmingham
Seized: Several birds

Case 3:

Date: March 2022
Location: West Bromwich
Seized: Several birds

Attachments

539A_22_PIT