Tullamore District Court heard allegations on Tuesday that a farmer commissioned works to unlawfully remove a 1ha section of woodland during the 2022 nesting season, which was disputed by both the farmer and contractor.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) brought charges against Patrick Butler for allegedly “commissioning the work” and against Thomas Standish for allegedly “carrying out the work”.

The NPWS alleges that the works took place on 5 and/or 6 July 2022 and in breach of the Wildlife Act on lands shown to be registered to Teresa Corcoran of Derrygrogan, Ballingar, Tullamore, Co Offaly.

Two NPWS personnel gave evidence on behalf of the State, the first being district conservation officer Robert Edge.

Report

Mr Edge claimed to have received a report from a member of the public on 6 July 2022 stating that “significant damage” had been allegedly caused to a section of woodland at Rinn, Rosenallis, Co Laois, on that day and the previous one.

He took another walk around the site the next day (7 July) and had been told by a passerby that the trees had been cut the day previous by a Mr Paddy Butler, which the judge dismissed as “hearsay”, given that this individual was not present in court.

Just before leaving, the NPWS official saw a tractor and trailer “pull up at the site” which was being driven by Mr Butler, who was cautioned that he may be in breach of the Wildlife Act.

Mr Butler stated that he wished to plant native woodland and establish wild bird cover on the site.

When present at the site, Mr Edge claimed to have witnessed “every tree within the site cut”, with the species which had been present described by him as containing species including beech, ash, holly and hazel.

On 9 July, Mr Edge met Mr Standish at the latter’s sawmill, where the tree surgeon claimed to “have done nothing wrong”.

Dr Áine Lynch of the NPWS was present at this meeting, as was a second, unidentified man claiming to work at the sawmill and who claimed to have been only doing his job.

Dr Lynch gave similar evidence as had been heard from Mr Edge.

Defence

Mr Butler’s representation - Philip Meagher - claimed that the area of trees in question was “scrub, basically” of which a “considerable” amount was ash “ravaged by ash dieback” and which was “dead anyway”.

He argued that these trees were along a public roadway and presented a potential danger to road users.

Mr Meagher claimed that the NPWS officer who attended the site had not witnessed any works or machinery in operation, despite the alleged activities occurring the same day and the day previous to the visit.

Seeing Mr Butler driving a tractor and trailer along a farm roadway did not constitute evidence that the works were ongoing, he argued.

He submitted to the court that the State did not meet the “evidence threshold” needed to prove the charges within the “window of accusation” listed on his client’s summons.

In similar cases, there would be “evidence from neighbours” submitted to the court to corroborate that the alleged event had occurred on particular dates and there was no evidence “one might see in a Garda prosecution”.

The matter was adjourned to Portlaoise on Monday where a motion of discovery is expected to be filed by the farmer’s defence to have Mr Edge’s submitted evidence of the events allegedly occurring on the named dates heard again before the court.