Two metal detectorists who damaged a protected fort dating to the Iron Age have been sentenced to unpaid work in the community.
Andrejs Grisulis, 35, and Matthew Madden, 55, carried out illegal metal detecting and removed an artefact from Dunadd Fort, to the north of Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute, in June 2020.
They previously admitted heritage offences when they appeared at Dunoon Sheriff Court last month.
At the same court on Thursday, they were each given a community payback order requiring them to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and be subject to supervision for six months.
![Iron hammer](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2022/06/24102644/8c7de4ba-721e-42f0-8981-135d19738aba.jpg)
Prosecutors said that on June 8, 2020 witnesses saw the pair using a metal detector and digging at Dunadd Fort, which is a protected site.
Following a complaint and a subsequent investigation by Historic Environment Scotland (HSE), 28 holes were found at the site and police recovered an extremely fragile iron hammerhead.
Holes dug by the detectorists
HES said the mound was used as a fort more than 2,000 years ago and the site is internationally renowned as a royal power centre of the Gaelic kings of Dal Riata, from about AD 500 to AD 800.
Anne Marie Hicks, assistant procurator fiscal for north Strathclyde, said following the sentencing: “Dunadd Fort is of great significance to our Scottish heritage and the local community. It is a nationally important scheduled monument subject to legal protection.
“It is vitally important that there are laws in place to protect such important sites, and as with this case where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so, we will prosecute.”
![Fort](http://content.assets.pressassociation.io/2022/06/24102957/efd7fd5e-1c04-4f4e-89f0-28b289c6fd13.jpg)
A requirement of the sentence is that Grisulis, of Kinlochleven, and Madden, of Fort William, do not enter any site owned and managed by HES for two years.
The court also granted the prosecution motion for the metal detector to be forfeited.
Under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, it is an offence to use a metal detector or carry out unauthorised works on a scheduled monument without consent from the relevant authorities.
Dunadd was taken into state care in 1932 in recognition of its national importance and of the formative role that it played in the establishment of the Scottish nation.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel