Man jailed after trying to smuggle rare birds' eggs through Birmingham airport
A MAN has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing and trying to smuggle rare birds’ eggs out of the country in the first case of its kind for 20 years.
Jeffrey Lendrum climbed a mountain in south Wales to steal 14 peregrine falcon eggs from their nest before trying to smuggle them to Dubai.
He was spotted acting suspiciously by a cleaner at Birmingham Airport who alerted West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit officers.
The 48-year-old, who has dual Zimbabwean and Irish nationality, had strapped the eggs to his body to keep them warm.
He had asked to use a shower room in the VIP Emirates lounge at the airport, but when cleaner John Struczynski noticed the cubicle was dry, he became suspicious.
He checked the bins in the room nearby and found two discarded egg boxes, which contained a single red coloured egg.
Lendrum was arrested as he prepared to board a plane bound for Dubai at Birmingham Airport on Bank Holiday May 3 this year, Warwick Crown Court heard.
He admitted offences involving the taking of the eggs from four nests on a peak in the Rhondda and concealing them to evade export restrictions.
Experts estimate there are only 1400 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the UK
