A man has been sentenced for wildlife offences after handling the carcasses of two protected bird species that were found displayed in a shocking incident outside Broughton Community Shop.
Police were called on 15 March 2024 following multiple reports that around 50 dead hares had been strewn across the ground outside the village shop. The bodies of a barn owl and a kestrel had also been stuffed onto the shop’s door handle.
Before officers arrived, local residents gathered to help clear the scene and remove the animal carcasses.
An investigation was launched and forensic testing later revealed that DNA belonging to 39-year-old James ‘Jimmy’ Kempster was present on both the barn owl and the kestrel.
Kempster denied any involvement and the matter proceeded to trial at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on 21 April 2026.
During the trial, magistrates heard how CCTV footage captured a Suzuki Grand Vitara arriving at the shop in the early hours of 15 March 2024. Two men were seen getting out of the vehicle and throwing animal carcasses across the ground, while one of the men attached the dead birds to the shop’s door handle.
The court also heard that the following day, officers on patrol in rural Test Valley discovered a burnt-out vehicle matching the description of the one captured on CCTV approximately three and a half miles from Broughton.
Although magistrates concluded there was insufficient evidence to place Kempster at the scene when the carcasses were dumped, they accepted that he had handled the dead birds at some stage.
Kempster, of Marchwood Road, Eling, was found guilty of possession of a dead Schedule 1 wild bird and possession of a dead non-Schedule 1 wild bird, contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
As part of the investigation, a second man, aged 29, was interviewed under caution. However, no further action was taken against him.
Kempster appeared before Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 23 June, where he was sentenced to a community order and rehabilitation activity requirement. He was also ordered to pay £884 in costs.