This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-28131408
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Kent wreck-raid divers told to pay £64k | Kent wreck-raid divers told to pay £64k |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Two divers who stole artefacts worth more than £250,000 from shipwrecks off the Kent coast have been ordered to pay £63,500 between them. | Two divers who stole artefacts worth more than £250,000 from shipwrecks off the Kent coast have been ordered to pay £63,500 between them. |
| David Knight, 52, and Edward Huzzey, 56, both from Sandgate, raided ships and allegedly kept cannons from the wreck of a 19th Century merchant ship. | |
| The pair also used cutting tools to take propellers off a WW1 U-boat. | The pair also used cutting tools to take propellers off a WW1 U-boat. |
| They pleaded guilty to 19 offences between them at Southampton Magistrates' Court in May. | They pleaded guilty to 19 offences between them at Southampton Magistrates' Court in May. |
| It is the first example of a case being brought for divers failing to declare their haul. | |
| The friends, who had been raiding shipwrecks since 2001, were "spooked" when they saw a BBC report that other divers in the Kent area had been arrested for raiding a battleship in the Thames Estuary, and went to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). | |
| 'Industrial scale' | |
| When police searched their homes, they found "an Aladdin's cave" of items. | |
| Some items were sold for scrap - a receipt was found for "scrap metal and brass" for £357. | |
| Knight and Huzzey admitted 19 offences, which was reduced to 17 after some of the artefacts were retrieved. | |
| The court heard the cannons have now been recovered. | |
| The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 says finds should be declared to the Receiver of Wreck within 28 days, but the defence argued there was a lack of clarity around this issue, and that the pair did ultimately confess. | |
| Anthony Calloway, Hampshire's district judge, said: "It's clear the operation was on an industrial scale. | |
| "The skill required and employed by them was considerable." | |
| He added: "Huzzey and Knight are friends and clearly operated in close co-operation to actively scavenge for material from the wrecks they explored." | |
| Knight was fined £7,000 and Huzzey £6,500. | |
| Both were ordered to pay costs of £25,000 each. |