Golfer cleared of shooting goose on course

A golfer who took exception to a 'feral' Canada goose fouling the lush greens of his club shocked players when he strode onto the course and shot it dead, a court has heard. Parish council chairman Roger Deadman, 70, stunned golfers at the private members club when he shot the male bird with two cartridges from his shotgun. Mr Deadman, a former club captain and member of Petersfield Golf Club in Hampshire for more than 30 years, blasted the bird as it sat by the reservoir next to the sixth fairway.

The retired IBM employee claimed he had authority from the club's general manager, saying he told him to "sort it" after making a quip about putting goose on the club's menu. When guest John Constable confronted Mr Deadman about the shooting he allegedly told him the birds were "nothing but crapping machines" and the player reported him to police.



Mr Deadman appeared at Aldershot Magistrates Court, where he denied intentionally killing a wild bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. He was cleared after a four-hour trial during which the court heard he had acted lawfully by killing the bird for public health and safety reasons. It is one of a number of conditions under the Act which allow the culling of wild birds.

The court also heard that the goose had repeatedly attacked other wildlife in the reservoir next to the course. Finding him not guilty, chairman of the bench, Simon Rawlinson, told him: "We consider Mr Deadman had a purpose to kill the bird and that was to protect public health and safety. We believe he had permission to solve the problem of the goose. It was not an instruction to kill the bird but all three men understood that might have been an outcome."