Prince of poachers loses gun licence at Fort William court
A PENSIONER nicknamed Scotland's "Prince of Poachers" has been stripped of his firearms licence after being hit with his fourth conviction for illegally hunting deer.
James Kennedy has been ordered to get rid of his £2,500 gun after the police took civil action
James Kennedy has been ordered to get rid of his £2,500 gun after the police took civil action.
The retired 72-year-old contractor has been told he is "no longer fit" to own the .243 Sako rifle and silencer.
Kennedy, who drives a blue Jaguar with the registration 'X2 5TAG', lives in a plush £500,000 hillside bungalow near Fort William named Tigh na Feidh - Gaelic for House of the Deer - but locals call it "Venison Villa".
The decision came in a written judgment by Sheriff Richard Davidson at Fort William Sheriff Court yesterday.
Last year, Kennedy was convicted of poaching for the fourth time after police matched the DNA of an illegally shot hind on Glenfinnan Estate to blood within the poacher's van.
The incident happened on the 9,000-acre estate on February 2, 2014.
Police officers, who had been alerted to a suspected poacher, stopped Kennedy's van and asked him about the deer carcass in the back.
Police matched the DNA of an illegally shot hind to blood in Kennedy's van
Kennedy, who began hunting aged only 12, claimed it had been shot at another location with the landowner's consent and the officers had no reason to detain him.
No longer a fit person to be entrusted to be the holder of a Firearms Certificate
But just two days later the head of the red deer and other body parts were found at Druim na Brein-choille on the estate.
The remains were later matched to the animal in the poacher's van. Kennedy, who has twice been jailed for poaching offences, escaped his latest crime with a £100 fine.
The decision came in a written judgment by Sheriff Richard Davidson at Fort William Sheriff Court
But after the conviction, Police Scotland requested his firearms licence be withdrawn.
The pensioner appealled but Sheriff Davidson yesterday upheld the move, stating Kennedy was "no longer a fit person to be entrusted to be the holder of a Firearms Certificate".
The court was told that Kennedy, was paid £20,000 by a local game dealer for supplying deer over a three-year period.