The Enemy Within

[Chef Geoff]

So any ideas anyone?

[kencomet]

"Dylan "   

[nobby]

is that Rod on the right hand side

[ground stabber]

I watched this inside out tonight i think this is going to end in a detecting ban in the uk at some point.the images posted of 3 men nighthawking will be caught soon and they are going to have servere finds or prison .they must be bricking it .

[Dryland]

Hopefully they are mate. Ken I can prove it wasn't me, I was on Crimewatch

[Landyman]

I fink I know 2 of dem. One one left is Lofty and one one right is Shorty

[ground stabber]

It's the 3 stoodges lol

[wittsy1]

Probably foreigners (Vlad). What is the point of banning the hobby, surely that would push many legit detectorists into the same bracket hence increasing the problem. Personally I just can't see a ban, some method of control yes a total ban no. What they going to do, have a day for all detectorists to hand in their thousands of pounds worth of detecting kit.

[Chef Geoff]

Not so sure about foreign...why are they speaking in English? and "He was quick, weren't he" sounds pretty West Country to me.
I agree that a ban from just yet another nighthawking case is unlikely and would need a much higher profile case but make no mistake I saw the ban imposed in Ireland following illegal detecting and I heard all the bravado beforehand regarding people saying "it won't stop me detecting" well inside 12 months the hobby was essentially dead, yes it has seen a flourishing in the last few years but only technically on beaches inland and even in your own garden it's still an arrestable offence.
Like yourself I and many others have for many years wanted some kind of control, mainly in the way of training and licencing the training need only cover the basics but the licence would only be issued after it and would be an add on to the PAS and could be tied in with DEFRA but as the future of PAS is somewhat in the balance I can't see it happening any time soon

[Spooyt Vane]

We have all met dodgy characters at rallies ,who you know are out hawking at night on nearby farms..But the bulk of detectorists are still law abiding citzens...Its everbodies fault that we having this problem..Putting your head above water can lead to conflict..But these characters need prosecuting and detectors confiscated....rob

[wagis]

I agree with Geoff, if we all had to be registered with a proper licence complete with photo so that  if you were approached and couldn't produce it you could be arrested. this would at least allow the police to know who you were from your licence and take steps accordingly. I for one would be more than willing to pay a few pounds for a detecting licence and at present always carry my NCMD card with me which also has a photo of me on it.

[Dryland]

It wouldn't even take a Government imposed ban to put the brakes on our hobby, [ inland ] all it would take is Farmers getting together and refusing us permission. Therefore people like this MUST be stopped. Surely someone must recognise them ?

[Cymro]

If memory serves, there used to be a metal detecting licence 30-odd years ago which was just a piece of paper. The big problem with this type of regulation is - who regulates it? The government is fond of making unenforceable laws - no phones in cars, no smoking in cars, even the seatbelt laws . . .

As I said (and meant it) our local police station has been closed down and sold to a housing development company so if anything kicks off locally they have to send the bobbies from 20-odd miles away so I can't imagine them even being interested it crawling around fields at night.

I don't know what the answer is, but it's not more regulation. There used to be a drugs problem near Chester years ago that the police couldn't do anything about. Then one night the drugs courier met with an unfortunate accident involving baseball bats, after which the problem ceased to be.

Dunno . . .

[Chef Geoff]

The laws covering rape and murder are unenforceable but I don't see that as a reason to do away with them and I wish you had told the Somerset Constabulary that the seat belt law was unenforceable before they fined me £200  Yes the old "Pipe finders licence" and I remember rushing to the post office in 1977 clutching my 50p (I think) and felt quite important lol.
I don't see any disadvantages of licencing as it can only make the police's job easier it doesn't mean that they have to check every time they see a detectorist but if there is a suspicion then it gives them an extra weapon in their armoury.

[Cymro]

The laws on rape and murder certainly are enforceable - as are all laws if they can catch the evil-doer at it. I do a lot of walking around here and it seems like every third car has the driver on the phone but there's nobody to do anything about it - so it's effectively unenforceable. Sorry about your fine - you must have been very unlucky!

The big problem with licencing is that people can choose to ignore the laws - look how many unlicenced drivers there are. As with guns, the people who have the licences aren't usually the ones causing the problems - that would be the criminal types - but it's the licenced ones who are getting punished for somebody elses' crimes.