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| Daniel the egg snatcher |
A man who illegally collected more than 5,000 rare bird eggs has been warned he faces jail. Daniel Lingham, 65, was spotted "head-to-toe in camouflage gear" picking eggs up off the ground at Cawston Heath in Norfolk. Norwich Magistrates' Court heard he was searched by police, who then visited his home and found thousands of eggs. Officers found a total of 5,266 eggs of species including nightingales, nightjars, turtle doves, chiffchaffs, little-ringed plovers, woodlarks and kingfishers at his home. They searched his home and found tubs containing eggs under his bed and in the kitchen and living room. Lingham was convicted of similar offences in 2005 when he was jailed for 12 weeks for illegally collecting 3,603 eggs, the court heard. He pleaded guilty on Friday to taking nine linnet eggs at Cawston Heath, having 75 wild bird eggs from species which are in decline, and possessing 4,070 ordinarily protected wild bird eggs (Source: Jamie Merrill, 'Britain's most prolific bird egg thief single-handedly put the future of nightjars and turtle doves at risk, RSPB says after court case' Telegraph, 12 October 2018).Britain's most prolific artefact hunters and knowledge thieves single-handedly put our future ability to understand the past at risk, but nobody gives a tinkers, least of all many UK archaeologists - as long as they can get their hands on some of the stuff pocketed. Lingham has been referred to a mental health team and is being treated for obsessive compulsive disorder.
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| Lingham's eggs were at least properly ordered and labelled, which is more than one can say for many personal artefact collections of UK metal detectorists. The collection is nonetheless not only illegal in terms of current, legislation but may be judged amoral and despicable |
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