A property developer has been ordered to give €15,000 to various animal justice organisations after he was discovered to have buried a badger den on a piece of land in Dublin’s western district. Specialists who presented evidence in the court indicated that a badger family might have suffered asphyxiation due to being trapped under numerous tree stems and heaps of soil at a location in the vicinity of Citywest.
The case involved Con McCarthy, aged 61, hailing from Greenogue Business Park, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, who is the proprietor of a company presently establishing warehouse units in Browns Barn. Mr. McCarthy had previously contested his conviction and £5,000 penalty for violations of the Wildlife Act. However, addressing Mr. McCarthy’s appeal on Thursday, Judge Jonathan Dunphy augmented the primary decision of the District Court, invoking the Probation Act and directing Mr. McCarthy to contribute €15,000 to the Irish Wildlife Trust, Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland and Badger Watch, dividing the total sum evenly between them.
The judge also instructed Mr. McCarthy to pledge that he would, henceforth, prioritise wildlife conservation over his own personal and financial gain. Kieran Buckley, a representative of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), gave testimony that the badger den had been overwhelmed by a tremendous amount of clay and tree logs, leading to the badgers’ probable suffocation. Mr. Buckley added that this was among the most severe and sadistic violations he has seen in his 20-year enforcement career.
Noel McCartan, from McCartan and Burke Solicitors, who represented Mr. McCarthy, conceded that Mr. McCarthy’s actions interfered with the badger sett, though his client never intended to cause any harm to the badgers. He maintained that there was no solid proof of badgers dying due to suffocation. Mr. McCartan acknowledged that while badgers were discovered elsewhere on the property, it couldn’t be confirmed they were the same ones from the disturbed sett.
Mr McCarthy has lessened the area of his property development by 10,000 square metres to ensure the resident badgers can stay on-site, so he explained. The court was informed that Mr McCarthy, who carries no prior criminal record, was anxious that a potential conviction could harm his investment dealings with financial institutions and funds. He proposed a charitable contribution of €10,000 to the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as a remedy.
Prosecutor William Maher echoed the concerns of the NPWS, who were worried about setting a precedent where individuals could essentially “purchase exemption from a conviction”. The NPWS believed that the notable publicity from a conviction would serve to deter potential offenders by delivering a clear message.
The directing of Mr McCarthy to donate €15,000 was justified, Maher argued that not a single cent of the originally proposed fine of €5,000 would be directed towards animals. Furthermore, he stressed that the track record of a successful conviction in the District Court stands as public knowledge, irrespective of what happens now.
Reflecting on the case, Green Party Heritage State Minister Malcolm Noonan underlined: “Under the Wildlife Act, badgers are a species with protection. The deliberate disruption or intrusion into the habitat and breeding grounds of any protected mammal is considered a serious wildlife crime by the state. The NPWS is intensifying its measures to combat such crimes. In cases where crimes are detected, NPWS collaborates with An Garda Síochána to take necessary action and enforce the law effectively.”
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