An RSPB warden was filmed beating a great skua to death with a rock at the Coquet Island reserve off the Northumberland coast.
The warden, who was later named as Ibrahim Alfarwi, was reported by witnesses to have also killed a baby puffin and a gull in the same manner.
The scene, which was akin to some sort of barbaric medieval sacrifice, was described by one witness as truly shocking.
The witness said: "Ibrahim stood on the tail for around four minutes. It was a long and drawn out process he embarked upon to trap and slowly kill the bird. There can be no excuse for this disgraceful behaviour because Mr Alfarwi was fully aware of the regulations in place at that time. You can see him actually enjoying himself as he faced me and beckoned me to approach and view the stricken bird; he was showing off and enjoying it."
It was claimed that the bird was suffering from bird flu, and therefore needed to be removed, however strict protocols for such an event still need to be followed which were ignored by the warden.
An RSPB spokesperson said at the time: "We are aware of this video, which was filmed in summer 2022, and which breaches our own high standards and procedures".