Portsmouth racing pigeon owner appears in court after killing sparrowhawk with a catapult in his back garden

Yovanis Cruz, 48, shot down the female sparrowhawk with a single deadly shot after it was mauling one of his pigeons – landing him in appearance at court.

He then blasted another shot at the protected bird as it lay twitching in his next-door neighbour’s garden in Copsey Grove, Drayton, on December 2, before attempting to cover his tracks by raking up its corpse.

But, unbeknown to Cruz, the incident was being recorded by a security camera set up in neighbour Edward Rashley-Smith’s garden.

Prosecutor Lucy Linington told Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court: ‘The neighbour had a Hive security camera in his back garden and during the recording he becomes aware of the defendant raking something over in his back garden.

‘After looking back at the video it shows the defendant catapulting a ball bearing into the skull of the sparrowhawk and killing it.’

Cruz’s bloodied pigeon flew to safety after the attack.

The defendant, of previous good character, admitted killing a wild bird.

RSPB senior investigator Guy Shorrock told the court the sparrowhawk was killed instantly. ‘The first shot was fatal,’ he said.

‘Between 80 and 100 raptor birds of prey are killed every year. The problem is widespread around the UK.’

The sparrowhawk has a UK population of 35,000 and has been fully protected since 1961.

District judge Gary Lucie fined Cruz £653, told him to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £65.

He told Cruz: 'It was clearly an intentional offence. You did not act with any mercy especially as your pigeon escaped unhurt.

'You could have scared off the sparrowhawk so it would have flown off. Instead you carefully approached it and hit it with a single shot. It was a misguided view you could deal with it after it attacked one of your pigeons.'

Speaking after the verdict, Jenny Shelton from the RSPB’s investigations unit said: ‘All birds of prey are protected by law. Sparrowhawks were heavily persecuted in the past and sadly, despite legal protection, continue to be illegally killed.

‘Between 2007-18, 49 sparrowhawks were victims of illegal persecution, and these are only the ones we know about. Statistics also show that, of all raptor persecution convictions since 1990, ‘pigeon fanciers’ make up over 5 per cent.’

Speaking to The News outside court, Cruz said: ‘The sparrowhawk was stabbing my pigeon with its teeth. It was gruesome to see my pet pigeon being eaten alive.

‘Unfortunately on this occasion I used a catapult as a weapon on the sparrowhawk.’

The defendant, who has 30 racing pigeons and 80 in total, said the sparrowhawk had killed 25 of his pigeons. ‘It kept coming back because it knew there was prey there for it,’ Cruz said.

‘The racing pigeon that survived will never race again – he is terrified and won’t leave his pen now.’