A church magazine editor from County Durham has been prosecuted after picking up a dead deer from a road to take home to eat, in a case he has branded "entirely unnecessary". Guy Carpenter, 42, was stopped by police as he carried the roadkill deer across the A66 near Barnard Castle, and was later summonsed to appear at Peterlee Magistrates' Court charged under the Deer Act 1991 with removing a carcass without the landowner's consent. The case has drawn criticism for using police and court resources to prosecute an act he says caused no victim or loss.

Carpenter was stopped by officers who activated blue lights after spotting him carrying the deer on 7 June; he says the road was empty at the time and he intended either to eat the animal or clear it for road safety. Under UK law, a deer carcass becomes the property of the landowner once killed — in this case National Highways, as it was found on its network. An out-of-court resolution is being sought ahead of his next hearing in October, and he has received public backing including from Durham councillor Darren Grimes, who questioned the public interest in pursuing the prosecution.