So how does this work?

[The Heron]

On page 9 of this weeks st there is a report of poachers on an estate in Surrey having the case against them dropped despite them being observed by witnesses in possession of firearms and dead birds no doubt they will be our caravan friends are these people really above the law? it takes the micky out of people on here who abide by the rules. 

[Bobba]

Do you have a link please which could show why the case was dropped. Thanks.

[Rob85]

I haven't read the article but eyewitness account is still fairly unreliable evidence if it was a case of "I saw them with guns and dead birds".

Now if they are arrested in possession of them or recorded video evidence then that is a different matter as it cannot be easily disputed.

[chrisjpainter]

40 minutes ago, The Heron said:

On page 9 of this weeks st there is a report of poachers on an estate in Surrey having the case against them dropped despite them being observed by witnesses in possession of firearms and dead birds no doubt they will be our caravan friends are these people really above the law? it takes the micky out of people on here who abide by the rules. 

Without reading the article it's difficult to say for sure, but a few questions that could help explain why it was dropped:

Were the photographed actually shooting the birds?
Were they photographed on the land they were supposedly shot from?

could it be proved irrefutably the birds were killed on the site in question?

If it's just hearsay, or witness testament, or drawing a reasonable conclusion, then there's still a lot of doubt in the case and it's probably not worth the CPS' time and money in pursuing a case where the jury would almost certainly just return a not guilty verdict based on reasonable doubt. It might not be right or true, but that's the way it works sometimes.

[udderlyoffroad]

11 minutes ago, chrisjpainter said:

case where the jury would almost certainly just return a not guilty verdict based on reasonable doubt.

This.

Haven't seen the article in ST either - cancelled my subscription ages ago - but surely they could've successfully been prosecuted for armed trespass if they were arrested on estate land with guns.

[clangerman]

the cps drop cases all the time with good evidence their decision to prosecute is based on saving money their a disgrace to the justice system 

[udderlyoffroad]

So I happened upon a copy of ST.

In the article to which the OP alludes, a throw-away sentence at the end an article about poachers in Cambridgeshire says

Quote

Earlier this year, police dropped the case against a team of suspected poachers on the estate where Les works, despite them being caught in possession of dead birds and firearms and having been observed by eyewitnesses.

Ignoring for a moment the poor sentence construction, there really isn't sufficient information to draw any conclusions.

[GingerCat]

there could be lots of reasons. I imagine 1 of them being no one would stand in court and say what they saw. Had countless times when the offender is caught and the witnesses won't go to court or make a statement. There's little more that can be done. You effectively have no evidence.