146.Section 22 provides that a person has not committed any offences under the 1996 Act where the person has acted to prevent or stop a deer from harming someone. For the defence to apply, a number of conditions must be met:
	First, the harm must be likely and imminent (or occurring). The two aspects operate together to ensure that a theoretical risk of harm (say calm deer in the vicinity of people, or potentially aggressive deer some distance away) doesn’t enable someone to start taking unlawful action.
	Second, the person must reasonably believe that the action is necessary. This builds on the first test and requires it to be reasonable for the person to believe it was necessary to have acted (especially if it turns out that the action wasn’t or may not have been necessary). Or, to put it another way, it is not sufficient for the person to say that the deer might have caused harm, the surrounding circumstances need to support the person forming that view.
	Third, the action taken needs to be appropriate in the circumstances. A stray deer in a park may pose a threat but that doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be shot if there is an obvious lesser means of scaring it away. Equally, a person shouldn’t use a vehicle to run down a deer if the person is (or is with) an armed and competent shooter. It could also apply to disposal of any carcase: taking it home or selling it for venison may not be appropriate.
	Finally, the person must report what they have done to the police and where the carcase is (or was left). If they fail to do so, they lose the benefit of the protection. This can be done in a variety of ways including by telling any officers attending at the scene, attending a police station in person, calling 101 (for non-emergencies), via text (where the person is deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or speech impaired), or by writing to the contact address for the time being provided by the Police for that purpose.
147.The other provisions of the section make consequential changes to other sections of the 1996 Act to take account of the new provision.
The Act Preventing or stopping damage by deer Section 22 – Action to prevent or stop harm to persons