Local Businessman Taken to Court
Robert Palmer of Fiskerton Wharf in Fiskerton Village has conceded alegal battle with three local fishing clubs, involving NDPF. Despite repeated efforts to resolve matters without court action, the fishing clubs reluctantly took him to court for fishing unlawfully on the Middle Trent from his boats, encouraging others to do the same and hiring his boats to anglers to also fish unlawfully. The court case concluded after Mr Palmer eventually admitted he was wrong about the law. The settlement with the fishing clubs included Mr Palmer agreeing to paytheir legal costs.
The fishing clubs approached Mr Palmer in the Summer of 2023, asking him to stop hiring his boats to anglers as they were repeatedly fishing unlawfully in the clubs’ waters and interfering with the rights of the fishing clubs’ members to fishlawfullyfrom the banks. He insisted that the clubs would need a court order to stop him. The three clubs engaged a legal team to represent them. In November 2023 the Police wrote to Mr Palmer explaining that anyone fishing on the Middle Trent from the bank or in a boat, must have permission from the owner of fishing rights, without which they are committing the offence of Theft of Fishing Rights under schedule 1 of the Theft Act 1968. He chose to ignore the letter from the police, as well as many invitations to desist his unlawful activities from the fishing clubs’ legal team.
Adamant that he and his angling customers had a right to fish from a boat anywhere on the River Trent Mr Palmer had a number of altercations with angling club members and officials on the bank, some resulting in anti-social behaviour and harassment.Signage belonging to the fishing clubs adjacent to Mr Palmer’s residence was defaced, damaged and even removed during this period while Mr Palmer continued to encourage others to fish unlawfully and illegally from boats.
It was only after his preliminary appearance at Nottingham County Court in May 2024 that Mr Palmer sought professional legal advice.Within days of doing so, he admitted he was at fault and offered the undertaking to the court as first requested by the fishing clubs’ legal team. Having admitted fault, he became liable for all court costsand legalfees of the three fishing clubs (£113,000.00) as well as the costs for his own representation.
He has now agreed to settle the case by paying the club’s legal team the sum of £84,000.00.
The court order approving the settlement included an undertaking to the court by Mr Palmer not to:
- Fish in the 3 fishing clubs’ waters.
- Hire out boatswithout informing users that there is no right to fish from a boat in the fishing clubs’ waters shown on a plan.
- Encourage others to fish in the fishing clubs’ waters.
- Disrupt, or attempt to disrupt, the 3 fishing clubs or their members whilst fishing.
An undertaking is a formal promise to the court which, if not complied with, may be treated as a contempt of court which can lead to a fine or imprisonment.
Comments from other agencies:
Nino Brancato, National Enforcement Support Manager at the Angling Trust, said:
“This case sends a clear and important message — that the rights of lawful anglers and angling clubs will be protected. The fishing clubs involved acted responsibly and with great patience before taking legal action as a last resort. Mr Hall-Palmer’s persistent disregard for both the law and the angling community’s efforts to resolve this amicably left them with no other choice. We commend the clubs for standing up for their members and upholding the principles of responsible, legal angling on the River Trent.”
Kevin Pearson, Regional Enforcement Support Manager for the Midlands at Angling Trust said:
“This was an excellent example of partnership working, where incidents at the location were coordinated by key club bailiffs and the Voluntary Bailiff Service (VBS) and reported to the authorities, which encouraged a cohesive approach to be taken in tackling the problem. Legal departments from the EA, Notts Police and Fish Legal at Angling Trust were also involved in this case, which ultimately resulted in the accused accepting his responsibility and conceding that his actions were wrong”