Catch 'em and prosecute

[Charles Cater]

Britain's archaeological heritage is being plundered by metal detector users who are illegally raiding protected sites across the country, it has been claimed.

Heritage executives want the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to crack down on “nighthawkers”, who use the latest equipment to find antiquities, which they then sell on websites such as eBay.

English Heritage said that 88 of its protected ancient sites, a third, had been raided, with looters concentrating their activities at high-profile Roman settlements. Looters had also raided a further 152 agricultural plots of land, causing damage to crops or fields as well as to archaeological digs authorised by the Culture Secretary.

Police said that some thieves had formed loose networks to trade information, often in online forums, about new and vulnerable sites.
Nighthawking is defined as the search and removal of antiquities from the ground using metal detectors without the permission of landowners or where the practice is banned. The maximum penalty is three months in prison and a £1,000 fine but most cases do not even reach court.

Speaking before today's conference at the British Museum on the problem, Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, acting chairman of English Heritage, said that the practice was destroying the country's heritage.

“Nighthawkers, by hoarding the finds or selling them on without recording or provenance, are thieves of valuable archaeological knowledge that belongs to us all,” he said.

“Even in the case where the finds are retrieved, the context of how and where exactly the finds were found has been lost, significantly diminishing their historical values.”

Most of the illicit digging takes place between 10pm and 3am on areas of soft soil in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Oxfordshire and Yorkshire.

Chief Inspector Mark Harrison, of Kent Police, said: “The offenders are in two categories – they are people who like to build up a private collection, who keep a secret museum of heritage artefacts in their home, or they are in it for financial gain.”

He said that many scoured newspapers and council minutes for planning applications for new roads or other developments. “Once the bulldozers and excavators have broken through the top soil, they have access to 4,000 years of history,” he said. “They are not armed with guns or weapons but they are robbing that knowledge from the nation when they steal and hide away ancient coins, axes or other artefacts.”

There had been cases, he said, of farmers being threatened after confronting groups of men trespassing on their land at night.

English Heritage said that the 240 raids reported by police between 1995 and 2008 probably represented only a fraction of the amount of nighthawking going on in Britain. According to a survey it carried out, only one in seven landowners targeted by nighthawkers informed the authorities.

Researchers also found that about one in every 20 archaeological excavation sites was targeted by thieves.

The traffic of antiquity sales on the web is monitored, but experts say that it is impossible to know if items on sale are legitimate or if they have been stolen from a protected site or other land.

Heritage bodies believe that this trade could be halted if new powers under the Treasure Act made it an obligation for anyone in contact with a treasure to report it to the authorities, and for finders and sellers to prove that they have legal ownership of the items. They also want eBay to introduce more stringent checks on antiquity sales in the UK, a practice already in force in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Case study: The farmer

John Browning, 64, regularly patrols his 250-acre farm armed with night sights and thermal imaging equipment. His land at Icklingham, Suffolk, is a magnet for heritage thieves because it is home to a Roman settlement and a designated ancient monument site.

He said that trespassers arrived every fortnight to dig holes on his land and use metal detectors. A few had been caught and prosecuted but he thought the penalties were paltry and that magistrates and judges had no real understanding of the magnitude of the crime.

“When a defendant says he has only taken a few corroded coins that have no value, the courts don't understand that these people are damaging history. It's not coin theft, it's not treasure theft, it's heritage theft.”

He said that stiff fines should be given to anyone caught plundering ordinary land and a double penalty for raids at protected sites. Until then all landowners should report every nighthawking incident to the police and lobby for a crime number so that police data can show the scale of the crime across the country.

[Al.Thepastfinder, ( Alan )]

ONE THE FARMS WERE THEY KNOW THERE IS A PATERN TO THEIR RAIDS  OR KNOW THE AREAS THEY SHOULD SET UP A TRAP FOR THEM.
 SHOW THEM UP FOR WHAT THEY ARE,   DISTANCE THEM FROM THE DECENT LAW ABIDING DETECTORIST,  THEN DUMP THEM ON AN ISLAND OUT IN THE OCEAN

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

The penalties should be more severe, severe enough to dissuade night hawkers. That way It'll give us a fighting chance to show how the majority of detectorists carry out the hobby.

[DATA311(Alan)]

You will find that you have these minorities in most pastimes who are hell bent on destroying the pleasure's of those who live by the rules, regardless of how much damage they cause.
And until a stand is made against them by the authorities they will continue to destroy everything we enjoy..........................

[Gadget(Ian)]

its the same in all walks of life the minority always spoils it for the majority.

[Tafflaff (Rob)]

Yeah you're right there , all hobbies and sports have their rule breakers and cheaters, they just make the honest participants look like shit

[Al.Thepastfinder, ( Alan )]

ohhhhh don't start me off on that one now Rob, lol,  i was a mate with 2 guys who turned out to be sly 2 faced backstabbers who wanted to make a killing off the back of my hard work  i'm off here  lol.

[waltonbasinman]

I am sure that with today's technology and a bit of guile from the police the catching of crooks which is what these people are should be easy enough. But i think this sort of crime is way down their list and to them we are all crooks and paint with the same brush.

[Al.Thepastfinder, ( Alan )]

yeah,  right too, well untill we help them out from time to time hey.  but yes, it can be planned and done in the regular areas, i agree,
Alan

[Charles Cater]

Trevor Austin of the NCMD. That it what they are there for.
And another area woulld be The Portable Antiquities Scheme and so forth
Worth thinking about inundate them with complaints and they may do something?

[altinkum]

as long as a court hand's out a slap on the wrist these people are going to nighthawk. think about it if a night hawk found a good roman site the chances are he could make a £1000 a night selling finds but if he get's caught it only cost's him £150. with the state of this country at the moment i can see a lot more unemployed detectorist's turning to this and until we get a goverment with a backbone like it or not it's going to continue.  mike

[hedgehog]

That is a really good point Mike, like all on here I believe I am a responsible detectorist, but what if I did become unemployed, would I contemplate nighthawking?
I think the answer to that one is , I might, a while back when I was self employed I fell off a ladder and damaged my back. The help I had wasn't enough to pay the rent (and It's a modest rent), for three months I was incapacitated ,couldn't work , no other income, depleted the money I had somewhat paying council tax etc;
One thing I did notice in that time was how happy the people who don't work around here were (claiming benefits and doing a different type of nighthawking) and how pristine their properties are.
I have the tools to do it , I have the knowledge, if I was unemployed and unemployable would I nighthawk to survive?

Yep!

[Charles Cater]

How do you think we went on in the 30s, Steve.
There was no money around then worth while but we managed without.

I used to collect the money on a friday night from Fisher Clarks (by the way, they are still printing other thing today after all those years)for the women who were paid so much per box of 1,000 strung lables,
As I recokon I got a half penny from each "customer" and collected 3d on a Friday, I earned it but the kids these days expect thier mums and dads to finance thier habits. you cannot blame them, it is the fault of the parent I reckon?

I am from the old brigade that would not find it a hardship to go without. These days there are benefits and money galore, which was never available to me then, if you know how to work the system as most people do these days. Nighthaking is a criminal offnce and those doing it should be prosecuted severely.

If the asylum seekers can gadge money then why not, it is the fault of those in power and I disagree.with the whole system, I do not recognise what is happening, no wonder we are in the state we are.
Get off your soap box Chas.