Caught red-handed by fisheries officers with undersized lobsters, fisherman Richard Matthews had no choice but to plead guilty when his case came before magistrates at Norwich in England.
The court heard how fisheries officers had visited his boat, the 10 metre Anna Gail, on 26th October last year, carried out an inspection and the catch of lobsters on board was all found to be above the minimum size. But once he had left the area, officers from the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (EIFCA) became aware that there were a further two boxes of lobsters concealed on board the Anna Gail.
When the boat’s owner returned, officers approached him about the concealed boxes, requesting to inspect the contents. At this point, he jumped into his car, with the boxes, and tried to flee the scene. Unfortunately the car became stuck in the shingle beach and he instead took to his heels, still with the boxes of lobsters, and did his best to throw them back into the sea.
As well as retaining lobsters that were found to be under the minimum size when they were inspected, a further offence was in failing to comply with a marine enforcement officer’s request.
He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, meaning that he can be re-sentenced for these offences if any further offences are committed within the twelve months, plus he was ordered to pay the full costs totalling £1255, plus a £15 victim surcharge.
‘The fact that this case was pursued through to prosecution by the MMO sends out a strong, clear message that failure to comply with a requirement or direction reasonably made by an officer will not be treated with the utmost seriousness by the MMO,’ an MMO spokesman said.
