“Three men have each been sentenced to 12 weeks in custody for killing a badger after the RSPCA and forensic experts matched the DNA from the dead animal to one of the culprit’s bloodied clothes.

Antonio Miguel Alonso-Brown, Liam Darren Swift and Nathan Swift – who all come from the Rotherham area – were also banned from keeping dogs for life during a hearing at North East Derbyshire & Dales Magistrates’ Court, in Chesterfield, yesterday (26.2.15).

They had previously admitted unlawfully killing a badger at land near St John’s Road, Unstone, Derbyshire, on 22 June last year, in breach of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

It is the first time ever the badger DNA profiling technique has been used to match a dead animal to samples taken from the people who killed it. It was made possible after blood on one of the defendant’s clothing matched the DNA of the badger found dead at the scene.

The court was told that a pathologist who examined the badger’s body was unable to determine whether the animal’s smashed skull, the blunt trauma injuries or the puncture wounds were the exact cause of death.” 

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 Source: RSPCA