War grave thief convicted

[MoD_RSS]

A Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) investigation has resulted in the successful conviction of a diver who removed items from the protected military wreck HMS Duke of Albany.

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[Seaweed]

I don't think a fine cuts it as, on balance over a period of undetected plundering of wrecks, these thieves can still turn a handsome profit. Man should have been jailed and all the rest of his team with him (could hardly have been a solo activity).

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

Hmmn, wonder how the MoD reconciles that against the salvage of gold bullion from the war grave otherwise known as HMS Edinburgh?

 

[broadside]

I don't think a fine cuts it as, on balance over a period of undetected plundering of wrecks, these thieves can still turn a handsome profit. Man should have been jailed and all the rest of his team with him (could hardly have been a solo activity).

It wasn't - the arrest "followed a referral by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency that a group of divers had visited the First World War wreck and illegally removed items from the war grave. The detectives used evidence posted on Facebook to help identify suspects and in September 2010 an individual was visited at his home in Leicestershire and interviewed under caution".

Ref your point about the sentence, I wonder what the Act proposes as a sentencing guideline for those who commit an offence.

 

[rumdownmythroat]

throw the book at the scumbag!

 

[Ninja_Stoker]

Which? The MoD or the Diver?

The only difference is the financial value of the fixtures, fittings and components of the war-grave.

 

[SARKING]

Theres an article in Private Eye about a Dutch salvage company cutting up the Hogue,Aboukir and Cressy. Grave to 1,459 sailors. Makes for depressing reading. Hows that for war grave theft?

 

[fishhead]

Theres an article in Private Eye about a Dutch salvage company cutting up the Hogue,Aboukir and Cressy. Grave to 1,459 sailors. Makes for depressing reading. Hows that for war grave theft?

I read that too.It also stated that the Dutch company was operating legaly using permission granted in 1954 by Churchill's government.

 

[broadside]

Can anyone advise on whether there is a "statute of limitations" on war graves. Church graveyards have been made available for building/conversion to non-church use on the basis that no burials have been conducted for xyz years or that immediate next of kin are all now presumed to be deceased themselves etc - does the same thing apply to designated war graves?

 

[rumdownmythroat]

Which? The MoD or the Diver?

The only difference is the financial value of the fixtures, fittings and components of the war-grave.

meaning jail the scumbag.