Drone shot down in UK.

[phil_b]

I though that this was an interesting read and am waiting to see what the police and/or CAA do in response.

Fox hunters appear to shoot a protester's drone out of the sky as bullets fly past the camera | Daily Mail Online

The video was originally posted here West Kent Hunt Sabs

 

[zocalo]

Good point about the CAA. My first thought was that it's mostly a police matter (firearms safety offence), but a drone is technically a type of aircraft and, as such, shooting at one should have similar gravitas as it does in the US where it's a federal offence with penalties of upto 20 years in jail. Max sentence in the UK is less (the UK regulations state that "offenders can be jailed for up to five years for endangering the safety of an aircraft"), but it definitely seems it could come up in any potential prosecution(s).

Interesting take by the hunt too. Seems like they are purporting to be operating legally, but rather than condemming the actions of the shooter and putting as much distance between them as possible they're tacitly condoing their actions by claiming "extreme provocation by animal rights activists" . Right, because flying a drone overhead is "extreme provocation" and firing a gun into the air (an incredibly dangerous thing unless you know downrange is clear) isn't worth a mention? Nice sense of priorities there!

 

[philbr118]

I very much doubt our police will do anything at all despite a uav being classed as an aircraft, they will not see it as endangering an aircraft !

 

[Peter Hughes]

How about Criminal Damage?

 

[Point Zero]

Great post and very interesting to see how this plays out. What a great job those people did knowing that these hunters were doing so illegally and then organising themselves with the right technology to get the evidence they needed. Absolutely brilliant! If only it was a zoom and they could have got a few faces to name and shame on social media. Love how these big bad hunter types run into the sewers when their hobbies are exposed. Why do anything you are so ashamed of?

 

[AMann]

Good point about the CAA. My first thought was that it's mostly a police matter (firearms safety offence), but a drone is technically a type of aircraft and, as such, shooting at one should have similar gravitas as it does in the US where it's a federal offence with penalties of upto 20 years in jail. Max sentence in the UK is less (the UK regulations state that "offenders can be jailed for up to five years for endangering the safety of an aircraft"), but it definitely seems it could come up in any potential prosecution(s).

Interesting take by the hunt too. Seems like they are purporting to be operating legally, but rather than condemming the actions of the shooter and putting as much distance between them as possible they're tacitly condoing their actions by claiming "extreme provocation by animal rights activists" . Right, because flying a drone overhead is "extreme provocation" and firing a gun into the air (an incredibly dangerous thing unless you know downrange is clear) isn't worth a mention? Nice sense of priorities there!

There was a drone shot down in 2016 in Arkansas and FAA decided it was a civil matter, so there may not be a federal case for these types of events in the US, either.

Drone shot down over Norfork

 

[grendeljaeger]

Since he was harassing the hunters I say too bad, no sympathy here. If he really thought he was filming illegal activities what did he expect? If I saw a violent crime being committed while flying and I tried to catch it on video I would not be surprised if the criminal tried to shoot down the drone to prevent being filmed. Not saying the drone operator was wrong (may have been but not for me to decide) but did he really think badguys are not going to try and stop you from documenting their crimes?

 

[zocalo]

There was a drone shot down in 2016 in Arkansas and FAA decided it was a civil matter, so there may not be a federal case for these types of events in the US, either.

Drone shot down over Norfork

That was 2016 when consumer drones were still pretty novel. A few more recent cases have prompted stronger action, and the FAA recently re-iterated that this is a federal crime so they might be ramping up their intent to prosecute, albeit probably more out of the inherent danger of firing guns into the air than damage to drones. It guess it depends on the circumstances too; shoot a drone down over open fields and you're much less likely to face the level of scrutiny you might if you were to do so in a residential neighbourhood, I suspect.

As for the CAA, things in the UK seem to be even more lax and they actually don't seem to bring that many cases (of any type) to court themselves according to records on the CAA site. Not sure how often they support police prosecutions though, as those stats might be slightly different, e.g. in the case of this or something like Gatwick, I suspect they'd just give evidence to support any prosecution as a result of charges brought by the police and referred to the courts. I see this more as a firearms matter anyway (possible illegal hunt aside), and as such mostly in the hands of the police, although they might want to add the CAA angle to the charge sheet if they do decide to prosecute.

 

[AzBrewer]

I fly Drones, and I also Hunt, I guarantee you when I am out hunting it is legal, and fortunately Arizona has laws against harassing legal hunters. If these "Sabs" (Their name says it all) were to fly a drone around me while I am hunting I would shoot it down as well, and I only hope it has an FAA number in it or a phone number on it so I can turn it over to Game and Fish and other law enforcement so they could prosecute these idiots to the fullest extent, and the cost of my hunt...even though I do not do guided hunts, in Arizona you have to get drawn for a tag, which is not an easy thing to do, and not cheap. For instance, I have been hunting in AZ for 44 years, in that time I have put in for ELK every year, and I have only been drawn one time...If someone had ruined that hunt with a drone I would surely have shot it down and if I had found the pilot I would at a minimum have had very bloody knuckles.

I so wish people could realize that just because you have one belief you do not get to force your belief on another.

I hunt, I go way out in the woods for safety reasons, and to not get messed with by anti's, antifa, or sabs or whatever they want to call themselves, if they choose to mess with me when I have done everything to avoid it, then getting their drone shot down is about the nicest thing I could think of to do to them /Rant

 

[4wd]

Harassing people you don't like is hardly a reasonable use of the drone anyway, I wonder if the hunt had horses which wouldn't like it.
There is no suggestion the hunt was acting illegally. The saboteur groups often take things too far with the intention of provoking incidents which will get in local news, and [they think] increase support for their cause.

A typical tactic is standing in roads and tracks to partly block them, with the hope of being knocked aside and thus claim an assault has occurred.

 

[Point Zero]

I wish i was brave enough to kill another animal with my bare hands, oh wait you shoot them with bullets from a ways away. I wish I was so brave that I could shoot another animal in the head because its so much fun. I think I would feel so powerful and brave if I could just kill kill kill for fun fun fun. Maybe one day I will be a real man?

 

[Rnl]

They taste good too.

 

[sar104]

They taste good too.

Foxes?

 

[Rnl]

Elk

 

[AzBrewer]

I wish i was brave enough to kill another animal with my bare hands, oh wait you shoot them with bullets from a ways away. I wish I was so brave that I could shoot another animal in the head because its so much fun. I think I would feel so powerful and brave if I could just kill kill kill for fun fun fun. Maybe one day I will be a real man?

Well I guess if you want to go that route, then knowing you have a problem is the first step, good luck in your journey.

Who turned my filter on? I had so much more to say but my be nice filter got turned on by accident

 

[sar104]

Elk

Definitely, but the subject of the thread is fox hunting.

 

[Rnl]

Post 9 is where elk came in.

 

[Rnl]

Come to think about it, fox probably not bad. All in how you cook it.

 

[sar104]

Post 9 is where elk came in.

Yes - I guess so, although I'm not clear why complaining about the possibility of being harassed while legally hunting elk has much relevance to aerial surveillance of illegal fox hunting.

Come to think about it, fox probably not bad. All in how you cook it.

A bit tough and gamey, I've heard.

 

[Bigbird48]

I fly Drones, and I also Hunt, I guarantee you when I am out hunting it is legal, and fortunately Arizona has laws against harassing legal hunters. If these "Sabs" (Their name says it all) were to fly a drone around me while I am hunting I would shoot it down as well, and I only hope it has an FAA number in it or a phone number on it so I can turn it over to Game and Fish and other law enforcement so they could prosecute these idiots to the fullest extent, and the cost of my hunt...even though I do not do guided hunts, in Arizona you have to get drawn for a tag, which is not an easy thing to do, and not cheap. For instance, I have been hunting in AZ for 44 years, in that time I have put in for ELK every year, and I have only been drawn one time...If someone had ruined that hunt with a drone I would surely have shot it down and if I had found the pilot I would at a minimum have had very bloody knuckles.

I so wish people could realize that just because you have one belief you do not get to force your belief on another.

I hunt, I go way out in the woods for safety reasons, and to not get messed with by anti's, antifa, or sabs or whatever they want to call themselves, if they choose to mess with me when I have done everything to avoid it, then getting their drone shot down is about the nicest thing I could think of to do to them /Rant

You should really think before running your yap, If you shoot a drone your wrong, no matter what the reason you have no right to shoot that drone, will most likely end up in court to pay the damages , and when you hunt the drone guy down and beat him up you will end up in jail..
Hey I have guns and a drone and I live here too tough guy.










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