BF Newsroom
Well-known member
A Lincolnshire egg thief who collected thousands of illegal birds' eggs is told he faces jail.
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Egg thief told to expect prison (BBC News) (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter BF Newsroom
- Start date
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
He'll be back out one day, so go to the link provided, download the photo and memorise it, so if you ever see him hanging round anywhere near where uncommon birds are nesting you can get onto the fuzz toot sweet!
Rotten sod!
James
Rotten sod!
James
Frenchy
Well-known member
He's also a complete coward, as first of all he had the cheek to deny everything.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7213720.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7213720.stm
No problem, hang the latters.
totaljohn
man-e-faces
well, yes. most of them anyway.
this is really disgusting. i understand how bill oddie cam to see the error of his ways and really help birds in the end, but i think when people get set in their ways, the likelyhood of change seems to decrease somewhat. this guy obviously has reasonable depth of knowledge about birds and especially nesting, it would be good if he could see the errors of his ways and perhaps put that knowledge to better use. people like this often seem on the fringes of society, perhaps he never had anyone there to at least get him involved in something a little more productive involving his fascination with birds. perhaps i'm just naive. i don't quite understand the mindset. these ravenous collectors just seem like dinosaurs from the victorian age. as bad as people who go out shooting for fun. i suppose my love of photographing birds and wildlife is like collecting in a way, but i understand how even that could be destructive if done carelessly. best to tag him.
Woodchatshrike
Registered User
Hopefully he'll be in Jail for the breeding season at least. These buggers are slowly being sorted out.
Frenchy
Well-known member
RSPB press release -
Guilty!
Thief convicted over massive haul of wild bird eggs
An egg thief has pleaded guilty to amassing a huge collection of wild birds eggs in the biggest case of its kind for 20 years.
Richard Pearson was sentenced to 23 weeks in prison by a district judge sitting at Skegness Magistrates’ Court today (Tuesday).
The court heard how police and RSPB officers raided Pearson’s Cleethorpe’s home in November 2006.
Inside they found his collection of more than 7,000 wild birds eggs, including those of some of the UK’s rarest nesting species such as golden eagle, little tern, osprey, black-necked grebe, avocet, black-tailed godwit, stone curlew, chough, peregrine falcon and red-throated diver.
David Outterside, prosecuting, said a freezer at the 41-year-old’s house was filled with the bodies of 21 wild birds, including rare birds such as honey buzzard, Montagu’s harrier and short-toed eagle.
Among the egg collecting equipment discovered at the address were an egg blowing kit, rubber dingy, padded containers, egg boxes, maps, a camera and books.
In conservation terms, this is one of the most significant seizures of birds’ eggs since the inception of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
After his arrest, Pearson had initially denied taking the eggs, claiming Colin Watson a notorious egg collector, who fell to his death in 2006, gave them to him. However, diaries in Pearson’s handwriting detailed his thefts and investigators were able to match individual entries to eggs in the collection taken over a fifteen-year period.
Today he pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing wild birds eggs and three counts of taking eggs from the wild.
Passing sentence, District Judge Richard Blake, told Pearson: “You carefully organised this evil campaign against wildlife. You have threatened the fragile heritage of the wildlife of these islands, preying on the rarest of birds.”
He sentenced Pearson to 23 weeks for each of the offences to run concurrently. Pearson was also ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
The judge paid tribute to the work of Lincolnshire Police’s wildlife crime officer, PC Nigel Lound and RSPB Investigations Officer Mark Thomas.
Mark Thomas, said: “Based on the overwhelming prosecution evidence in this case we had no doubt Pearson would be found guilty and today we welcome the sentence.
“Together with the Police, we have dealt with many egg-collecting cases over the years but the scale of the offending in this case was horrifying.
“His actions show a selfish disregard for nature, denying the rest of us the joy of seeing these wonderful creatures in the wild so he could amass this macabre collection for his own perverse satisfaction.
“Despite tough legislation, Pearson and a few others like him continue to present a serious threat to some of the UK’s most threatened birds. The length of his sentence reflects this and we hope it acts as a deterrent to others.”
He added: “ I would also like to pass on our thanks for the superb efforts of PC Nigel Lound and Lincolnshire Police.”
The RSPB believes there are around 100 active egg collectors in the UK.
Under tough legislation introduced in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the maximum penalty for taking or possessing one wild bird’s egg is six months imprisonment and/or a fine of £5,000.
Since the Act was introduced, ten egg collectors have been sent to prison.
Guilty!
Thief convicted over massive haul of wild bird eggs
An egg thief has pleaded guilty to amassing a huge collection of wild birds eggs in the biggest case of its kind for 20 years.
Richard Pearson was sentenced to 23 weeks in prison by a district judge sitting at Skegness Magistrates’ Court today (Tuesday).
The court heard how police and RSPB officers raided Pearson’s Cleethorpe’s home in November 2006.
Inside they found his collection of more than 7,000 wild birds eggs, including those of some of the UK’s rarest nesting species such as golden eagle, little tern, osprey, black-necked grebe, avocet, black-tailed godwit, stone curlew, chough, peregrine falcon and red-throated diver.
David Outterside, prosecuting, said a freezer at the 41-year-old’s house was filled with the bodies of 21 wild birds, including rare birds such as honey buzzard, Montagu’s harrier and short-toed eagle.
Among the egg collecting equipment discovered at the address were an egg blowing kit, rubber dingy, padded containers, egg boxes, maps, a camera and books.
In conservation terms, this is one of the most significant seizures of birds’ eggs since the inception of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
After his arrest, Pearson had initially denied taking the eggs, claiming Colin Watson a notorious egg collector, who fell to his death in 2006, gave them to him. However, diaries in Pearson’s handwriting detailed his thefts and investigators were able to match individual entries to eggs in the collection taken over a fifteen-year period.
Today he pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing wild birds eggs and three counts of taking eggs from the wild.
Passing sentence, District Judge Richard Blake, told Pearson: “You carefully organised this evil campaign against wildlife. You have threatened the fragile heritage of the wildlife of these islands, preying on the rarest of birds.”
He sentenced Pearson to 23 weeks for each of the offences to run concurrently. Pearson was also ordered to pay £1,500 costs.
The judge paid tribute to the work of Lincolnshire Police’s wildlife crime officer, PC Nigel Lound and RSPB Investigations Officer Mark Thomas.
Mark Thomas, said: “Based on the overwhelming prosecution evidence in this case we had no doubt Pearson would be found guilty and today we welcome the sentence.
“Together with the Police, we have dealt with many egg-collecting cases over the years but the scale of the offending in this case was horrifying.
“His actions show a selfish disregard for nature, denying the rest of us the joy of seeing these wonderful creatures in the wild so he could amass this macabre collection for his own perverse satisfaction.
“Despite tough legislation, Pearson and a few others like him continue to present a serious threat to some of the UK’s most threatened birds. The length of his sentence reflects this and we hope it acts as a deterrent to others.”
He added: “ I would also like to pass on our thanks for the superb efforts of PC Nigel Lound and Lincolnshire Police.”
The RSPB believes there are around 100 active egg collectors in the UK.
Under tough legislation introduced in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the maximum penalty for taking or possessing one wild bird’s egg is six months imprisonment and/or a fine of £5,000.
Since the Act was introduced, ten egg collectors have been sent to prison.
Vectis Birder
Itchy feet
Actually, if 'they' stopped putting pensioners in jail for non-payment of council tax, etc, then there'd be more room for 'real criminals' (of which the egg collector is one).
apbarr
Well-known member
Not the same thing at all. Shooting is a legitimate pastime which can be carried out legally, egg collecting is not.
deborah4
Well-known member
Yeah ... great big red ones through both arms ... then hand him to the ringer fraternity so they can strap half a dozen leg irons on both legs - we'll recognise him in the field then with no problem
ps. if anyone thinks this is a dig at ringers, certainly not - this guy needs to be ringed and tagged for conservation purposes
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Twite
Well-known member
What is the use of legislation when the Judge ignores it, could he not at the very least have handed down the maximum fine? He had 7000 eggs, it makes me wonder how many would you need to have to get the maximum fine?
Twite.
ColonelBlimp
What time is bird?
So...he had 7000...so the fine should be around £35 million, give or take.
Seems eminently sensible. (Sadly, no sarcasm intended.)
Hopefully (but I doubt it) a little reminder to "eggers" throughout the country,as breeding season starts.Hopefully,he shares his cell with a 6ft 5 bodybuilder,who is a member of various conservation groups and does not take kindly to Wildlife Criminals..! Pity,he did not get a days sentence,for every egg he collected.
WHIMBREL
A lifelong Naturalist...
People that take the lives of innocent creatures by shooting 'for pleasure' are sick, whether it's called 'legitimate' or not.
Osprey_watcher
Ένας ερασ&
John Cantelo
Well-known member
Next they'll be having a burglar on the radio telling us all that his 'family tradition' doesn't do any harm as people just replace everything stolen thanks to the insurance pay out!
Funny, isn't it how some (but not all) of those who're so quick to rush to deplore violence against 'innocent birds' (presumable Song Bird Survival know where the guilty birds are!) are in the forefront in demanding violent retribution against characters like this loathsome throwback,
John
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