He boarded the tube carrying a small pizza box - a rather normal looking man in the midst of east London. He was wearing dark, almost military clothing and carrying a small shoulder bag.

The train sped through the city, the suburbs and out in to rural estuary Essex. By now he was fidgety but only to trained eyes. As he left the train at Leigh-on-Sea, darkness was falling. He had meticulously planned it to be like that…

For over 20 years I’ve dealt with the dirty world of bird of prey persecution offences. In addition to dealing with a depressing catalogue of magnificent birds which have been shot, trapped and poisoned it has also provided an insight into why this problem won’t go away.

In the last couple of decades there has been much to celebrate with increases in buzzards and marsh harriers and successful re-introductions…