2.5 years in jail for smuggling peregrine eggs

20/08/2010 17:45:27 Sharp eyed cleaner noticed strange behaviour
August 2010. A Man has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing and trying to smuggle rare birds' eggs out of Britain in the first case of its kind for 20 years.

Jeffrey Lendrum climbed a mountain in south Wales to steal 14 peregrine falcon eggs from their nest before trying to smuggle them to Dubai. He was spotted acting suspiciously by a cleaner at Birmingham Airport who alerted West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit officers.

The 48-year-old, who has dual Zimbabwean and Irish nationality, had strapped the eggs to his body to keep them warm. He had asked to use a shower room in the VIP Emirates lounge at the airport, but when cleaner John Struczynski noticed the cubicle was dry, he became suspicious. He checked the bins in the room nearby and found two discarded egg boxes, which contained a single red coloured egg.

Bound for Dubai
Lendrum was arrested as he prepared to board a plane bound for Dubai at Birmingham Airport. He admitted offences involving the taking of the eggs from four nests on a peak in the Rhondda and concealing them to evade export restrictions. He had 14 eggs tied into socks bandaged to his stomach when he was arrested by CTU officers, who paid tribute to the vigilant cleaner.

Experts estimate there are only 1400 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the UK

An officer from the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) identified the eggs as being peregrine falcon, protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Export of such species is also strictly prohibited unless there is a valid export permit in force at the time of export. Officers also found paraphernalia associated with taking eggs, including climbing ropes and an incubator in Lendrum's car parked in a nearby long stay car park.

Counter Terrorism officers - with the help of Border Agency colleagues - managed to keep the unhatched chicks inside the eggs warm by turning them regularly on the top of their computers.

Detective Chief Inspector Alex Murray, from the West Midlands CTU, says: "We ask staff at the airport to be on the lookout for passengers behaving suspiciously and Mr Struczynski did well to spot the signs that something was not quite right. We urge workers to trust their instincts and if they have concerns to let us know. In this instance we were able to intervene and prevent these rare eggs from being taken out of the country. This isn't part of our normal business but we are pleased with outcome."

11 live peregrines hatched from the eggs
Lendrum, from Towcester in Northamptonshire, had used the equipment to scale a peak in the Rhondda, south Wales, to steal the eggs. The recovered eggs were tended by an experienced Midlands' falconer Lee Featherstone, who managed to incubate and hatch 11 live peregrine falcons.
The chicks were initially placed with foster parents whilst the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds tried identified suitable nest sites. Seven chicks have now been placed into nests containing other chicks to be adopted by the resident parent birds. The remainder are currently in a wildlife release programme.

Previous offences
The court heard that Lendrum had been convicted previously of two similar offences, one in Canada and one in Zimbabwe. West Midlands Police counter terrorism officers are now carrying out a financial investigation into Lendrum under the provision of the Proceeds of Crime Act. If they can prove to a court that he has money from the proceeds of crime, they can appeal to claw it back to be ploughed back into fighting crime.