Sugar Coating Illegal Metal Detecting, and You are paying for it.

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“I conclude and declare that the hoard of 9,315 coins found by Mr Davies are treasure", saith Coroner John Ellery at a hearing in the place with the unlikely name of Wem. He adds however "It’s clear the finder did not have permission to enter the land with his detector. People should always seek permission". Indeed they should, otherwise what they do when they go digging up other people's property on other people's land without their permission or knowledge is illegal. It is called "theft". But most normal people "shelter from the rain" in a car, under a tree, in the pub. In England it seems some metal detectorists do not behave like normal people, but do it standing with their machines turned ON in the middle of a field where they have no permission. In what way can one "shelter from the rain" in the middle of a field without a tent?

Mr wet-behind-the-ears-detectorist admits that before the rain “I’d been at the site for three or four hours and found nothing". What is the official PAS definition of a "nighthawk"? Does one have to be metal detecting on a "site" without permission from the landowner for more than a fixed period of time (say four hours) to qualify? Can we have some PAS outreach here, in place of the state-funded sugar coated press release which skips lightly over the whole question of the legal aspects of this find (not for the first time one might add, a certain PAS press release about a torc and WW2 aircraft crash site come to mind).

"Friends of Numismatists" Tompa and the other guy are alleging that looters and corrupt politicians are paying Bulgarian archaeologists to 'look the other way', so is anyone paying the PAS to skip over this part of the story with scarcely a comment? Or are they doing it of their own volition? Why?

The non-artefact-hunting public are paying (13 million quid at last count) for this outreach, are they getting it?

Vignette: do you approve of law breakers getting a reward?