PC is spared jail over rare bird's eggs haul: Officer's illegal collection was 'crime against nature'

Michael Upson, 52, had 649 eggs hidden in margarine cartons inside a battered suitcase in the loft of his home in Sotherton, Suffolk.

Evidence indicated he may have taken more than 900 eggs in total but around a third have never been found.

A policeman  who committed a ‘crime against nature’ by stealing hundreds of eggs from rare birds’ nests narrowly avoided jail yesterday.

Michael Upson, 52, had 649 eggs hidden in margarine cartons inside a battered suitcase in his loft.

Police officers who raided his home also found an index system that suggested the eggs had been collected before 1954, when it was not illegal to take them from nests.

However, these were revealed to be fake when Upson’s own catalogue cards and diaries were discovered concealed in plastic boxes inside his attic water tank.

These proved he had mounted illegal raids around the country between 1991 and 2001 when he was a constable and acting sergeant for Suffolk Police.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223344/PC-spared-jail-rare-birds-eggs-haul-Officers-illegal-collection-crime-nature.html#ixzz2APuKMt1X