Great news for MDing !!!
You'd wonder if there's more to the story than meets the eye though. 'Maybe' it was his first outing but as a ranger / parks warden, it would be impossible for him not to be a bit more in the know about potential sites/ the Md'ing scene than he pretends. Just my opinion.
In Ireland, a father and son outfit (father was longterm employed by the state in a similar role to the Scottish finder today) had been accumulating 'finds' such as these from sites where no one, and I mean, no one, can detect without serious legal approval. They were convicted but escaped jail time. I know......its ludicrous for most MD'ing. But in their case, they were pillaging sites. And the father had worked for 30 odd years for Duchas, the Heritage Service. That should have meant double punishment in my view.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/1003/1224255768813.html
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=58196953
Metal detectors may lead to iron bars
By Cormac O’Keeffe
DO NOT buy or accept metal detectors as presents this Christmas or you could end up spending the new year in jail, an expert warned yesterday. And shops and manufacturers were told not to advertise metal detectors as they were making potential criminals of buyers. Antiquities expert Dr Ned Kelly made the comments yesterday as selected items from a hoard of 800 artifacts, which were recovered from thieves, were put on display at the National Museum. “We would advise people coming up to Christmas, not to give or receive metal detectors. “They run the risk of finding themselves before the courts, and even run the risk of imprisonment,” Dr Kelly said. It is illegal to dig for archeological objects and to use metal detectors for such a purpose without a special licence. Dr Kelly said advertisements were running in national papers promoting metal detectors, including junior versions for €12.50. The National Museum’s antiquities curator said one supermarket was also promoting them, unaware they were making potential criminals of buyers. Dr Kelly unveiled a number of items recovered from a massive artifact theft involving more than 800 items. These included a rare gold covered Christian mount from Lorrha, Co Tipperary, featuring a crucifix in a circular frame. The mount is thought to have an insurance value to up to €50,000. Other items on display were two Bronze Age daggers, an Iron Age pin, musket balls and hundreds of perfectly preserved coins with the month and the year of minting still visible. “We are giving people an opportunity to see this significant and important material.
Not to have documented it and the material collected would have been a significant loss,” said Dr Kelly. Anthony Molloy, a 68-year-old former Duchas employee, and his 44-year-old son Kevin, were last week found guilty at Birr District Court of being in the possession of archeological objects. Judge Michael Reilly gave them the probation act partly because they had co-operated fully with the National Museum. The court had heard that Anthony Molloy had been given a metal detector as a retirement present. The father and son went on to raid monastic sites and castles near their north Tipperary home. Dr Kelly advised people who have information on the use of metal detectors to contact the gardaí or the National Museum on 01-6777444.
http://www.examiner.ie/
Personally, I would LOVE to have found those Torcs. Not merely for the value. For the objects themselves. To turn an ordinary, non-important field / place into something magical. Suddenly, every field is a treasure-trove waiting to be dug.
If you notice from the picture of the gentleman who found the gold there is the coil of an Garrett Ace 250. Perhaps I will keep mine a little longer. I know, you guys would say something like, "think of how much more he would have found with a Minelab!"
