JOHN CRAVEN
POLICE TIGHTEN THE NET AROUND NIGHTHAWKS
Police are tightening the net around heritage thieves in the countryside.
Picture the scene: shadowy figures edging their way across a dark landscape in search of buried treasure to keep for themselves or, more likely, to sell illegally for what could be a fortune. They call themselves ‘nighthawks’, which sounds romantic, but in truth they are common thieves armed with metal detectors who rob the nation of vital clues to our history.
Until now, they’ve often got clean away, but thanks to the video technology given a massive boost during the coronavirus pandemic, the net is closing in. In ‘Operation Chronos’, police forces, heritage organisations, responsible metal detectorists (by far the majority), volunteers and archaeologists are working together, using Microsoft
Teams and other systems, to catch nighthawks in action and analyse their hauls.
“Our ability to respond is higher – video conferencing has made a big difference,” says Mark Harrison, head of heritage crime strategy at Historic England, who oversees Operation Chronos. “All through the pandemic we have been able to coordinate search warrants and carry out briefings by video and then look at images sent back from a raid and say: ‘that’s worth seizing’.
“It has worked incredibly well. During just one week I delivered, by video, specialist training on dealing with nighthawking and the theft of copper and lead from church buildings to 300 police officers around the country – something that would have been impossible before.”
THE CRIMINAL FEW
Lockdowns may have curtailed some nighthawk activity but a swoop last year after reports of thefts from protected sites involved seven searches by 53 police in two counties, with Historic England archaeologists watching online. And punishment is getting tougher; four men convicted in connection with a £3 million hoard of Viking treasure in Herefordshire got sentences totalling 24 and a half years.
Compare their actions to detectorist Terry Herbert who, in 2009, stumbled across the largest hoard ever found of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver artefacts in a field in Staffordshire. He did the right thing and told the authorities. People like Terry add vastly to our knowledge of ancient times. “The thousands of detectorists who are complying with the law, who have the consent of landowners and report their finds, are doing an amazing job,” adds Harrison. “It is the tiny criminal minority who are jeopardising everything.”
One enthusiast who detected five rare Iron Age gold coins, declared them, went through the correct procedures then shared a profit of around £2,000 with the landowner is Andy Long, who happens to be the Heritage and Rural Crime officer with Essex Police and an Operation Chronos leader. “Detectorists find nighthawkers a bit abhorrent; they don’t want them in their clubs and their hobby,” Long told me. “Previously they tolerated them because they felt the police were not interested but now they realise we are taking action and they are coming forward with information.”
Many detectorists now act as ‘eyes and ears’ for the police when out in lonely places, and they are not just on the lookout for nighthawks. “We work actively with heritage crime officers,” says Catherine Lange of the National Council for Metal Detecting, which represents the hobby. “A drugs ring got busted because of things we saw and we encourage the reporting of other rural crimes.”
So, nighthawks beware: you may be using modern gadgetry to commit one of the world’s oldest crimes but soon you’ll be the ones being detected.
Watch John on Countryfile, Sunday evenings on BBC One.