Looters suspected of raiding Castle Hill...

[lee greagsbey]

"Looters suspected of raiding Castle Hill in 'nighthawking' attack"

Idiot's when will people learn...

https://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yo ... l-15056767

[Old Git John]

Absolute morons. In this case, the "evidence" appears to be good, in that the hole
seems to have been dug with a spade. Not the normal shape a detectorist digs, but
still regular in its shape.
I hope they are caught, and that a fitting sentence is imposed if they are found guilty.

[jcmaloney]

Where has the turf gone then?
Could as easily have been the bloke with the camera and all the turf & spade is stacked up out of shot?
Its easy enough these days to buy a trail cam and gather proper evidence.

[Old Git John]

Some of it can be seen at the bottom of the shot. Do I take it that you have sympathy for the perpetrators
of what has happened, or are you just being contrary again ?

[AXE HEAD]

I must agree with Jc Maloney. Not one bit of turf to be seen or spoil around the holes, Strange. Is there any other photo,s of nighthawk activity that can be compared to.

[flash]

i am totally against night hawking ,but them holes look rather strange perfectly formed with lovely flat bottoms ,i just cant believe a night hawker would spend so much time at the risk of being caught making holes as good as that ,they would just dig it out on the surface ,find the target and rust to the next one ,,looks a bit staged for whatever reason

[jcmaloney]

Some of it can be seen at the bottom of the shot. Do I take it that you have sympathy for the perpetrators
of what has happened, or are you just being contrary again ?

I have no sympathy with the perpetrators, none, nothing.

I have issues with the assumption that SAM + Hole = Detectorist. With no other supporting evidence, all 5 or 6 holes have no turf or spoil on the video.

When the over whelming majority abide my the law it is incursions like this that feed ammunition to those who want the hobby controlled.

Lets implement a £1,000 a year licence where a licence holder has to be a self recorder and suitably trained. It won`t stop thieves but it would greatly reduce the "Buy a £50 detector and go dig holes in the hillfort coz I didn`t know" types.

[lee greagsbey]

Where has the turf gone then?
Could as easily have been the bloke with the camera and all the turf & spade is stacked up out of shot?
Its easy enough these days to buy a trail cam and gather proper evidence.

These are the words of the FLO that shared this article with me...

"Sack or stick it in a bag, if you're aiming to get in and out quickly with as many items as possible it's quicker to throw the plug in than spend time pulling out the find. Seen it happen at at least ten other sites, most commonly when there's only a few holes dug."

"My old man was a chief constable, and until three years ago headed Hertfordshire’s Heritage Crime division as well as running operation Kronos. During his tenure, a number of individuals caught nigthawking were arrested with bags containing a number of grass plugs. Nothing more to say really."

Based of his experiences this does look pretty incriminating to me...

[lee greagsbey]

I believe this article is also linked to the site in question...

"Archaeological dig at Castle Hill finds nothing ... but litter"

https://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yo ... s-15052739

[AXE HEAD]

With the comments so far I would not want anyone here to sit on a jury in which I was accused but innocent. I am like everyone else when it comes to illegal metal detecting. when it comes to licensing then we get back to who can afford it. When I see the number of detectors some have bought in the past, then I see that some have a lot deeper pockets than others. I go fishing and pay to do so. the fishing is well policed but poaching is still a big problem. I pay ten quid a dig plus petrol plus yearly insurance card . plus cost of equipment, Finds this year Zilch. A £1000 pound license would would be the end for me especially at the age I am . Would this stop night hawking, NO, but it might just make some think about it.

[Old Git John]

With the comments so far I would not want anyone here to sit on a jury in which I was accused but innocent. I am like everyone else when it comes to illegal metal detecting. when it comes to licensing then we get back to who can afford it. When I see the number of detectors some have bought in the past, then I see that some have a lot deeper pockets than others. I go fishing and pay to do so. the fishing is well policed but poaching is still a big problem. I pay ten quid a dig plus petrol plus yearly insurance card . plus cost of equipment, Finds this year Zilch. A £1000 pound license would would be the end for me especially at the age I am . Would this stop night hawking, NO, but it might just make some think about it.

That is a superb post AXE HEAD, and that final sentence great.

[ageezer]

i come across a lot of holes that look suspicious but are dug out by various creatures ..such as badgers, deers, jays ,foxes, and so on ..just saying...

[lee greagsbey]

i come across a lot of holes that look suspicious but are dug out by various creatures ..such as badgers, deers, jays ,foxes, and so on ..just saying...

True as a gardener on a private estate I do come across alot of holes from the above mentioned animals but a spade or trowel dug hole does look very different. A farmer or landowner should be able to tell the difference...

[IronRon]

Where has the turf gone then?
Could as easily have been the bloke with the camera and all the turf & spade is stacked up out of shot?
Its easy enough these days to buy a trail cam and gather proper evidence.

These are the words of the FLO that shared this article with me...

"Sack or stick it in a bag, if you're aiming to get in and out quickly with as many items as possible it's quicker to throw the plug in than spend time pulling out the find. Seen it happen at at least ten other sites, most commonly when there's only a few holes dug."

"My old man was a chief constable, and until three years ago headed Hertfordshire’s Heritage Crime division as well as running operation Kronos. During his tenure, a number of individuals caught nigthawking were arrested with bags containing a number of grass plugs. Nothing more to say really."

Based of his experiences this does look pretty incriminating to me...

Seems strange that a nighthawker in a hurry would carry a bag of divots around in a bag giving that the archeologists found nothing but trash.

[jcmaloney]

A typical loose sample of fairly dry topsoil weighs around 1600 pounds per cubic yard. There are 27 cubic feet in a yard and 7.48 gallons in a cubic foot. 1600/27=59.26 pounds a cubic foot.
So if the holes are 1/4 of a cubic foot, roughly 15lbs ...... then somebody is lugging 6 x 15lbs or 90lbs of soil around in a sack?

In this day & age there are trail cam`s, drones, phones with cameras...yet we never get any substantive evidence.
Get the evidence to convict, prosecute them to the full force of the law and send out a message.

Anything else is just speculation.