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. The court heard how police and RSPB officers raided Pearson's Cleethorpes 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 dinghy, 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.

PC Nigel Lound with a dead Honey Buzzard (photo: RSPB).

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.

Mark Thomas of the RSPB with the Pearson egg collection (photo: RSPB).

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."

PC Whiley with some of the seized eggs (photo: RSPB).

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.

PC Nigel Lound with eggs during execution of the warrant (photo: RSPB).