In February this year, serial egg collector Daniel Lingham, 71, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of the theft of wild bird eggs (see here). It was the third time he’d been caught, having previously served short prison sentences in 2005 and 2018 for similar offences.
His 2018 conviction resulted in him also being given a 10 year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which he has now breached. The consequences of breaching a CBO can result in a lengthy custodial sentence and we were all waiting to see what happened at Lingham’s sentencing hearing last Friday (3 May 2024).
For reasons best known to himself, Magistrate Matthew Watts decided to impose a suspended sentence – 12 weeks jail for the taking of wild birds’ eggs and for two counts of possessing wild birds’ eggs, eight weeks jail for possession of equipment and 12 weeks jail for breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order. All were suspended for 18 months to run concurrently.
Lingham also received a 12 month mental health treatment requirement, 15 rehabilitation days, and was ordered to pay £183 in compensation to the British Trust for Ornithology, £145 court costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
Norfolk Constabulary has issued the following statement following Lingham’s conviction:
MAN SENTENCED FOR STEALING THOUSANDS OF BIRDS’ EGGS
An egg collector who illegally hoarded thousands of wild birds’ eggs has today been sentenced.
Daniel Lingham, 71, of Newton St Faith, Norfolk, was captured on a wildlife trap camera on 9 June 2023 stealing two eggs from a Nightjar nest in Holt Lowes.
A subsequent search of his home revealed he had amassed 2995 eggs most of which (2429) were protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Of those 548 were from native birds on the amber list of birds of conservation concern and a further 546 were of the most serious concern on the red list including Linnet, Green Finch, Yellowhammer, House Sparrow and many more.
A further collection of eggs – which looked much newer – was found behind the bath panel including a box containing a pair of Nightjar eggs with a label ‘Nightjar 2, Holt Lowes June 9.’
Officers also found identifying books, binoculars, and an egg blowing kit.
Lingham admitted to five offences at an earlier hearing in February.
Appearing for sentencing at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on Friday 3 May 2024 he was handed 12 week jail sentences for the taking of wild birds’ eggs and for two counts of possessing wild birds’ eggs, eight weeks for possession of equipment and 12 weeks for breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.
All were suspended for 18 months to run concurrently.
He was also handed a 12 month mental health requirement, 15 rehabilitation days, and ordered to pay £482 in costs, compensation, and victim surcharge.
Lingham had previously been convicted of similar offences in 2005 and 2018 and still has four years of a ten year Criminal Behaviour Order left to run.
PC Chris Shelley from the Op Randall Rural Crime Team said: “It is disappointing that we were here again for a third time with Lingham again having taken whole clutches of eggs for his personal collection and having a huge negative impact on local wild bird populations.
“Having today been sentenced we hope this is an opportunity for him to reflect on his behaviour and get the help he needs to end his illegal egg collecting.
“Although the hobby has largely fallen out of favour we remain alive to the risks and ask the public to be alert too under Operation Owl, a national initiative that asks the public to be our eyes and ears out in the countryside to tackle the taking of wild birds’ eggs.
“In the UK all wild birds, their nests, and their eggs are protected by law and if you see any suspicious activity please call Norfolk Police on 101.”
Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer, said: “It’s clear Lingham has a serious disregard for nature and the law, driven by his obsessive need to collect eggs.
“It was hoped that the behaviour order, issued in 2018, with its additional tougher penalties would have seen an end to Lingham’s offending but sadly that hasn’t happened.
“This latest hearing has taken into account his mental health issues, but we are concerned that the penalty given today may not effectively deter or prevent Lingham from committing these offences again and fear that we will see Lingham in court again.”
ENDS
Well done to Norfolk Constabulary, the RSPB and the National Wildlife Crime Unit for putting together a strong case. Once again, weak sentencing doesn’t reflect either the cost and effort that went into bringing the defendant to court nor the seriousness of his offending.
More detail in an RSPB blog here and an article on the Eastern Daily Press website here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
It is surely a fault in our legal system that magistrates etc. are not required to justify their decisions, especially where the outcome is at variance with reasonable expectations.. It would appear that the magistrate had several months in which to consider an appropriate penalty and to seek guidance – not least because of the previous history of similar offences, the penalties imposed and the current Criminal Behaviour Order. The defendant here is clearly a skilled fieldworker. It is a great pity that he does not use his talents more constructively. He really must have thought that Christmas had come early when he heard that he had got off so lightly. This must have been a very frustrating outcome for the Police and the RSPB.
I hope the decision to suspend sentences was not based on his age, he needs prison right now!
Surely a tag restricting him to a limited area close to his home during April, May and June would be the obvious solution ?
How the hell did that happen, with his record and history including the CBO you would have thought jail time guaranteed, what planet are these magistrates from.
After 14 years of Tory (and LibDum) ‘austerity’ the prisons are in a terrible state: overcrowded, lacking experienced POs, outsourced to incompetents, etc. That’s why ‘low risk’ (to human life) offenders like this sad old delinquent are being given non-custodial sentences. And what will Labour do to fix this broken system, I wonder? Raise taxes to spend on improving things? Unlikely.
Prison didn’t work! He clearly has mental health problems and it would probably be better to spend resources on finding a better outcome concentrating on that.
We have the technology to tag and track him so that his movements can be restricted when necessary and we probably have the medical expertise to sort out whatever mental condition he is suffering from but do we have the resources and the will to implement? Apparently not……..
The legal system is a joke. He will b back at egg thieving in no time !! The cops will b thinking catching people like this is just a waste of our time for the end result .Rare birds like night jars can’t afford to keep having nest raided as many times as this idiot does . If they won’t jail him and if its a mental problem get him hospitlized and throw away the key???.
I totally concur
These people are not just stealing eggs from the birds, they’re stealing from all of us in a way.
In relation to the damage he’s caused to the wild bird population the sentence is surprisingly weak and inappropriate, particularly as this man is a serial offender. I doubt he knows why he repeatedly carries out this perverse and cruel behaviour, and he only stops, temporarily, when an investigation and court appearance stop him.