Criminal proceedings statistics

This section presents Scottish Government data on criminal proceedings related to wildlife crime. Data are presented for people proceeded against, and from a different source to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Statistics in the previous section, hence figures are not directly comparable.

Figure 5 shows the number of people proceeded against for wildlife crime in Scottish courts in 2021-22 by offence category. The statistics for 2017-18 to 2021-22 are given in Table 7 in the Tables supporting document.

Figure 5: There were 18 people proceeded against for wildlife related offences in 2021-22. The most common offence category was ‘hunting with dogs’.

People prosecuted in Scottish Courts for wildlife crime offences in 2021-22.

The number of people proceeded against (18) in 2021-22 was similar to the annual average of 19 for 2017-18 to 2019-20 and marked a return to a more typical level after a very low number of people (2) proceeded against in 2020-21, impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.

The percentage of people proceeded against who were found guilty was 61% (11 out of 18 people). In terms of offences, rather than people, the percentage of all offences found guilty was 53% (17 out of 32 offences).

In Figure 6, conviction rates for individual wildlife crime categories have been presented as a five year average due to the small numbers of proceedings for some categories. This shows that conviction rates vary among these categories, from 50% to 100% with the 5-year average for all offence categories of 76%. It should be noted that, even with five year averages, the variability of the data is impacted by relatively small numbers in each category – for example, for badgers the 50% conviction rate represents 1 out of 2 people.

Figure 6: The average (5-year) conviction rate for people prosecuted for wildlife crime over 2017-18 to 2021-22 is 76%.

Conviction rates for all prosecutions in Scottish courts for wildlife crime from 2017-18 to 2021-22

Where a single court proceeding involves a number of different offences at least one of which concerns wildlife crime, Criminal Proceedings statistics only report it as a wildlife crime where this is the 'main charge'. In 2021-22 court proceedings were held covering a total of 32 wildlife crime offences, in comparison to the 18 proceedings where wildlife crime was the main charge in a case.

For the 11 people with a charge proven, Figure 7 shows the breakdown of penalties imposed. The most common punishment was a monetary penalty (6 people), followed by a community sentence (4 people).

Figure 7: The most common punishment for a wildlife crime conviction in 2021-22 was a monetary penalty.

People with a charge proved for wildlife crimes in Scottish Courts, by main penalty, 2021-22

Aggregate totals for the five years from 2017-18 to 2021-22 show that monetary penalties were the most common main penalty for wildlife crimes (37 out of 58 convictions) and only 3% of all wildlife crime convictions resulted in a custodial sentence.

Looking over a five year period, the average monetary fine imposed for wildlife crimes was £688, with average fines by category ranging from £283 for fish poaching to £1,594 for hunting with dogs.

It is not possible to establish the average number of Community Payback Order (CPO) hours as this information is not held in the Criminal Proceedings database.

Further detail: on people and offences proceeded against, conviction rates and penalties (including fines imposed) is included in tables 7 to 12 in the Tables supporting document. In addition, a breakdown of proceedings for specific offences is provided in Annex 3 – Court proceedings data by specific offence.