RSPB release video of abseiling thief stealing peregrine falcon eggs from Peak District nest after prosecution fails
Date of alert:
Tuesday, 7 June 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Derbyshire Constabulary
The RSPB have released video footage of the moment a man abseiled down a quarry face to steal peregrine falcon eggs after a prosecution did not proceed.
The charity worked with Derbyshire Police to identify a 60-year-old local man as the suspect after cameras on the nest at Stoney Middleton in the Peak District captured the theft in May 2020.
In the footage, the adult bird is disturbed at night and leaves the nest, before a man abseiling down the rockface on a rope can be seen removing the eggs and putting them in an ice cream tub.
At Chesterfield Magistrates Court last month, the man was found not guilty after his lawyer successfully argued that his arrest was unlawful and evidence found during searches of his home was inadmissiable. No eggs or chicks were ever recovered.
