Fisherman uses night vision gear to catch lobster thief

A THIEF who raided lobster pots offshore has been caught red-handed by a fisherman who spotted him from the beach with a night-vision telescope.

After a series of thefts, Joe Miller, 58, was keeping a lookout at night near Lulworth Cove, Dorset, when he saw three men arrive and target his catch 200 yards out to sea.

Mr Miller watched through the infrared scope as one of them repeatedly swam out to the cage, taking a bag full of eight or nine lobsters at a time.

He called the police at 11.10pm and although officers arrived on the scene in time to catch one thief in the act, he was let off with a caution.

Mr Miller, who said his lobster cages had already been raided three times this year, said he was frustrated that the thief will not be prosecuted. He keeps a holding cage under 20ft of water offshore with lobsters culled from several pots further out to sea.

Thefts have cost him hundreds of pounds.

Mr Miller said: “The CPS sees it as a low-level crime but as a commercial fisherman I have to fill in a logbook for everything I catch and throw back undersized crabs and lobsters. It seems very unfair.”

The 58-year-old, whose family have been lobster fishing for 340 years in Lulworth Cove, believes the thieves have been selling the lobsters directly to restaurants.

A spokesman for Dorset Police confirmed that a 39-year-old man had been arrested following reports of a lobster theft off the coast and had received a police caution.