Cannon Salvor Jailed

[VOC]

Very Harsh


Diver jailed for fraudulently selling three cannon found in UK waters | UK news | The Guardian

 

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[1637]

sad because England would have paid him a fair price for them.
brad

 

[PhipsFolly]

England has probably the best system in the world when it comes to recovering history and fairly compensating the finders... This guy unfortunately chose not to do the right thing. America needs to take a lesson from England with regards to treasure hunting and the recovery of historical items...

 

[AUVnav]

"A professional diver has been jailed for two years after he falsely claimed to have found three rare 17th-century cannon in international waters so he could sell them to the highest bidder rather than surrendering them to the nation.Vincent Woolsgrove told the authorities he had found the cannon outside British waters on an unidentified wreck, which allowed him to pocket about £50,000 by selling them to an American buyer. After two years of painstaking detective work, investigators proved the cannon were actually taken from the warship HMS London, which sank in 1665 off Southend in Essex. By then the cannon had been exported and were sitting on the front lawn of a collector’s home in Florida."

It was far more than the wrong thing, this is a known sovereign wreck. Canon are very easy to identify.

This appears very relevant to the Mercedes recovery by Odyssey. Odyssey claimed the recovery was in international waters, and now the location has been verified, as well as means and methods or recovery. The survey showed many canon on the Mercedes site, yet Odyssey recovered none. Spain has stated they plan to review the criminal charges.

 

[CaptEsteban]

I think he got a lenient sentence. He defrauded his government PLUS the buyer !

 

[crzhors]

Cannons

I was able to see the three cannons in Forida, Gorgeous! a shame the collector will lose the cannons and his money, and legal fees, in good faith. Ought to be put on public display, for everyone to see...I'll bet the collector would fund it....just sayin' knowin the guy....

 

[AUVnav]

In the latest in a series of high-profile prosecutions of various types of “Heritage Crime” by Historic England in cooperation with other law enforcement and regulatory agencies, professional diver and now convicted fraudster Vincent Woolsgrove [49] of Ramsgate in Kent was jailed for two years on Friday [4 Sept 2015], for the theft of three bronze cannon from the wreck of the 17th century warship HMS London. HMS London blew up in the Thames Estuary on 7 March 1665 with the loss of around 300 lives and is currently the subject of archaeological work. Having recovered five cannon from the wreck site Mr Woolsgrove declared two to the Receiver of Wreck as the Law demands, but sold the remaining three cannon to a US based collector for £50,000.
In sentencing Mr Woolsgrove in Southampton Judge Peter Ralls QC told the Court
“It’s great credit to the MCA [Maritime and Coastguard Agency] that they have been able to piece together historical records that show without doubt the origin and identity of these ancient weapons. The work that has gone into this by the MCA is frankly enormous.”
Mr Woolsgrove had fraudulently pretended to the authorities that the three cannon from the London were in fact from another wreck outside of UK territorial waters. A fraud which was possible because the weapons were originally made as fortress cannon for the City of Amsterdam and were captured by the Royal Navy having been issued to Dutch warships during the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th Century. As a result of searches at his premises and further investigations by the MCA and Historic England, which uncovered an “Aladdin’s cave” of material taken from other wrecks, he asked for a further 61 offences to be taken into consideration.
In addition to the jail sentence Mr Woolsgrove was ordered to pay £35,000 in costs and is now subject to action under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which, if successful, will see him forced to pay back to the authorities any proceeds from the sale of the cannon to a collector in Florida.
Ian Lawrie QC prosecuting said that the American collector who purchased the cannon from Mr Woolsgrove was “disinclined to return them to England”. adding “As far as the MCA is concerned, they are gone, which considering their rarity value, that is a considerable shame.”
While the collector may be content to sit in Florida and enjoy the stolen property sitting on his lawn, many will ask why only the supplier and not the receiver of stolen goods has been prosecuted, with the MCA and the other agencies involved apparently given up on the quest to return three important pieces of the historical record of HMS London to the UK?
Meanwhile Alison Kentuck, the Receiver of Wreck stated that “Our message is clear: all wreck material found within or brought within UK territorial waters must be reported within 28 days to the receiver of wreck.
“It is not a case of ‘finders keepers’. Had these artefacts been correctly reported, the finder would have been entitled to a substantial salvage award and important information could have been added to the historical record.”

 

[Smithbrown]

Southend Museum in Essex is trying to raise funds to buy back the cannon. London shipwreck cannon: Southend Museum bids to buy back weapons - BBC News So the collector won't be losing any money on the deal, if he wants to return them...

 

[LM]

Southend Museum in Essex is trying to raise funds to buy back the cannon. London shipwreck cannon: Southend Museum bids to buy back weapons - BBC News So the collector won't be losing any money on the deal, if he wants to return them...

In that circumstance, if he can be compensated for the money he lost, he probably should return them.

 

[Smithbrown]

here's an update on the conservation of the gun carriage raised in the summer. it is thought to be one of those belonging to the illegally removed cannons: Archaeologists begin conservation work on HMS London's "absolutely beautiful" gun carriage | Culture24

 

[Honest Samuel]

I am sorry for the person who had purchased the canons.