Thief’s hoard included protected birds’ eggs

Apr 2 2008 Western Mail

A PROFESSIONAL egg thief who collected an “Aladdin’s cave” of illegal birds’ eggs was jailed for 23 weeks yesterday.

Richard Pearson, 41, was found with more than 7,000 eggs, many from rare birds such as golden eagles, peregrine falcons and ospreys.

The decorator admitted five charges of illegally stealing and possessing the eggs – one of the largest hauls ever recovered. That included stealing five chough eggs and three peregrine falcon eggs from Pen y Parc in Anglesey in April 2005. He also admitted stealing four barn owl eggs from a site near Saltfleet, Lincolnshire, that same month.

Jailing Pearson, of Phelps Place, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, District Judge Richard Blake said, “I deliberately do not use the word ‘collecting’ because, in my view, it offers some legitimacy to what is a serious criminal activity on your part. You were carefully organised for an evil campaign against wildlife, and I choose my words carefully.

“You kept a careful record of your crimes relating to the taking of these eggs. My view is that you are at the top end of people who commit this type of crime.

“People like you threaten the fragile heritage of wildlife on this island, not now but for future generations, by preying not just on birds, but very rare birds.”

The court heard how the haul was one of the largest recovered since the Wildlife and Countryside Act was passed in 1981 to protect wild birds and their eggs.

Prosecuting counsel David Outterside told Cleethorpes magistrates Mr Pearson has in effect admitted to being a professional birds’ egg thief.

“His house was an Aladdin’s cave, full of illegal birds’ eggs. Officers found both eggs and birds protected by the Countryside Act.

“This is very much a trophy crime, a crime in which professional collectors simply seek to enhance their collection for whatever end. Very rarely are they [eggs] actually traded between collectors and even more rarely for financial gain.”

When police officers and inspectors from the RSPB raided his home in Cleethorpes in November 2006, they discovered 7,130 eggs, 653 of which were from the most protected species in the UK.

Officers also found 59 dead birds in a freezer in his garage. Twenty-one of the birds had been shot dead. Not guilty pleas were accepted by the prosecution in relation to these offences.

Officers also found dozens of data cards and diaries, detailing where and when he had found the eggs. Some of the rarest eggs included those of a red-necked phalarope and a Montagu’s harrier, while among the dead birds was a honey buzzard. There are around 30 red-necked phalaropes living in the UK. The Montagu’s harrier is just as rare.

There were also messages from Colin Watson, an infamous egg collector who fell to his death as he attempted to climb a tree to steal eggs from a sparrowhawk’s nest in April 2006.

Officers also seized equipment which was used to track down the birds’ nests from Pearson’s house. The equipment included a rubber dinghy, waders, climbing spikes, syringes, cameras and sat-nav systems.

Defending Pearson, Richard Butters said, “These offences are very serious indeed and must be marked by a custodial sentence.

“I acknowledge that on behalf of the defendant, but my submissions go to whether or not that custodial sentence could be suspended. After I spoke to the defendant this morning, for the first time it sunk into him how serious his predicament was.

“It is of some significance that this defendant is not a dangerous man to the public. He is simply a working man who had an overwhelming fascination for eggs. In reality, what he has been experiencing over the last months and years is an unlawful habit.”

As well as being jailed, Pearson was also ordered to pay £1,500 costs.