Suspended sentence for man who damaged 4,500-year-old monument
Date of alert:
Thursday, 31 August 2023
Crime Ref:
Force:
Wales - Gwent Police
A man who filmed himself damaging an ancient artwork up to 4,500-years-old has been ordered to pay for its restoration in the first prosecution of its kind in Wales.
Julian Baker, 52, admitted deliberately exposing and damaging the Bronze Age monument believed to date back as far as 2500BC.
Heritage officials said Baker – who filmed himself and uploaded footage to Facebook – ruined part of the artwork beyond repair and it is now “lost forever”.
Baker was ordered to pay more than £4,000 compensation for disturbing the ancient cairn field and damaging the rock art – the first ever prosecution in Wales under the section of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Act.
The buried monument, at Mynydd Eglwysilan, is two large sandstones with “cup marks” cut into their upper surfaces dating back to the Bronze Age.
