Environment Agency News Release

An Ashington couple were fined a total £350 at Alnwick Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday 17th October, 2007) after pleading guilty to netting fish illegally on the River Coquet earlier this month.

Heather Birchall and Alan Hunter Birchall of Storey Crescent, Newbiggin, Ashington, were each fined £175 and each ordered to pay costs of £175 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case.

Stephen Ainsley, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court how fisheries enforcement officers were called to the scene at the River Coquet on October 2 and saw that a net was set in the river 350 metres upstream of the Felton A1 by-pass.

The River Coquet has a healthy salmon, sea trout and brown trout population, and in recent years there have been many environmental improvements on the river to maintain and enhance the population of migratory fish. The Felton Park area is a private fishery used by Westend Angling Club and any unlicensed netting can cause damage to these fish stocks.

Environment Agency fisheries officers attended the scene and watched from a concealed position.

At 6.25pm a dark blue estate car pulled into the layby on the Felton bypass and two people were observed to get out of the car. Alan Hunter Birchall and Heather Birchall were seen to walk from the car to the riverbank where the net was set.

Officers began to record the incident with a video camcorder, and Mr and Mrs Birchall started to haul the net onto the right bank where they removed fish from the net. Mrs Birchall then removed some clothes, tied some rope around her waist and swam across the river to the left bank, to reset the net in its original position. She then swam back.

Mr and Mrs Birchall were arrested, handcuffed and cautioned and evidence recovered at the scene included a rucksack containing one salmon, a small sack, a pair of shorts, a pair of ladies briefs, a net weights, hook and line.

Two police officers arrived and Mr and Mrs Birchall were taken to Bedlington Police Station to be questioned.

In interview, Mrs Birchall denied any involvement in hauling and setting a net in the river or removing the fish from the net. She said she had found the rucksack while out walking. Mr Birchall refused to answer questions.

The magistrates’ accepted the early guilty plea but said that the net had been set intentionally, to catch migratory fish. Mr and Mrs Birchall were also ordered to forfeit equipment used in the incident.

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