Golfer ‘acted lawfully’ after shooting goose on fairway
Roger Deadman, a former club captain, was so fed up with a goose fouling the club?s greens that he took his shotgun out to the sixth fairway and shot it dead, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Deadman was challenged by another player and then reported to police.
Retired Mr Deadman, 70, appeared at Aldershot Magistrates? Court where he denied intentionally killing a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
He was cleared after the court heard he had acted lawfully by shooting the bird for public health and safety reasons.
The court was told the Canada goose had repeatedly attacked other wildlife in a nearby reservoir.
John Constable, a golfer who saw the incident, told magistrates: ?We were about to tee off on the first hole and I saw two people standing by the reservoir about 200 yards away.?
?We played our shots and were walking down the fairway, wondering what they were doing there without clubs when suddenly we heard two shots. All the birds dispersed except one that caught my attention because it staggered into the water.?
Mr Deadman told police he had been given permission to shoot the bird by the course?s general manager.
Simon Rawlinson, chairman of the bench, said: ?We consider Mr Deadman had a purpose to kill the bird and that was to protect public health and safety.?
