Harry and the Hen Harriers

Interesting story here from the BBC.

To summarise, a Natural England warden (and two other witnesses) reported two Hen Harriers as having been shot "on the edge of the Sandringham Estate" in October. Norfolk Police deemed it appropriate to interview "three suspects - Prince Harry, William van Cutsem and David Clarke, a gamekeeper" and referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Today the CPS deemed that there is insufficient evidence (no bodies have been recovered and therefore there is no ballistic/forensic material) to bring the case to court. The three suspects have denied any involvement.

The Sandringham Estate have deemed this matter so important that it is addressed on their homepage and the RSPB have this to say.

So there we have it.

Case closed?

I don't think so.

Someone unknown, with a shotgun, has been allowed close enough to Prince Harry to have shot two individuals of the UK's rarest and most protected species on the edge of one of the most secure estates in the UK. All this without the knowledge of the Prince or, it seems, anyone else connected with the royal household, his protection people or the Sandringham Estate.

This must be biggest breach of royal security since Michael Fagan sat on the edge of the Queen's bed in 1982.

We must take better care of all our endangered species. The people who threaten them really are beneath contempt.