Stewart jailed for 80 days

The Whalsay fisherman who clubbed 21 grey seal pups to death was sentenced to 80 days in prison when he appeared at Lerwick Sheriff Court this morning.

James Stewart, 47, of Saltness in Symbister, was warned he would be facing either a custodial sentence or a hefty fine when he admitted the offence last month.

The crewman of one of the UK’s largest pelagic fishing boats, the Altaire, had admitted mutilating, beating and crushing the young mammals on East Linga near Whalsay on 29th November last year.

All charges against his co-accused, 44-year-old John Eunson, also from Symbister, were dropped last month.