Poaching

I am sure most people reading this post will recollect the Brinks Matt Robbery. News coverage was widespread and quite rightly to. Just six robbers stole gold bullion, diamonds and cash to the tune of £26m.

So, who has heard of 17 Scottish people being prosecuted in January 2012 for stealing £62m? I confess I didn’t know until I got an email from the Angling Trust. I have copied an extract from the email in an attempt to reach a wider audience:

“Last month’s prosecution in Scotland of 17 skippers found guilty of illegal catches worth over £62 million puts the Brinks Mat robbery into the shade yet those convicted got off with pathetically weak fines of no more than £80,000 each – representing just a fraction of the illegal profits made from robbing a public resource and damaging an important fishery. The same goes for those caught with illegal set lines and nets on freshwater fisheries who really do need to feel the full force of the law if we are to curb what is in some areas a growing menace. Currently it is fair to say that all too often wildlife crime pays in Britain.”

So there you have it. A classic example of a very major crime that was not widely reported. I guess poaching fish is rather less newsworthy than stealing gold. Hope you are as outraged as I am.