Former SAS man jailed over bid to smuggle out rare falcon eggs

A FORMER member of the Rhodesian SAS has been jailed for 30 months after he attempted to smuggle rare peregrine falcon eggs to a wealthy Arab in Dubai.

Jeffrey Lendrum, 48, was caught after a cleaner spotted him dashing in and out of the shower in the Emirates business class lounge at Birmingham International Airport.

Despite his frequent visits, the cleaner found the shower still dry and alerted counter-terrorism police, fearing the former soldier had a more sinister purpose.

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When officers arrested Lendrum they found he had 14 rare peregrine falcon eggs bound in socks and strapped to his body to keep them warm.

The eggs, worth 70,000 on the black market in Dubai where falconry is a national sport, were still viable when they were seized by officers on May 3.

Eleven were successfully hatched and the highly protected chicks released back in to the wild, Warwick Crown Court heard.

Yesterday Lendrum, who regularly travelled around the world on business, admitted one count of trying to export the eggs and another of illegally stealing them from a nest on the side of a mountain in Rhondda, South Wales.

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A former member of the Rhodesian SAS, the businessman developed daredevil techniques, once abseiling off a cliff to reach a nest, while on another occasion he lowered himself from a helicopter in Canada to reach his prize.

Investigators said yesterday it was the such first case in the UK for 20 years. There are only 1,400 breeding pairs of peregrine falcons in the country and the birds receive the highest possible level of protection.

Jailing Lendrum, Judge Christopher Hodson said the endangered species "enhance the attraction of the countryside to all".

He added: "I quote the words of a Lord Justice of Appeal (Lord Justice Sedley) when he says, environmental crime, if established, strikes not only at a locality and its population but in some measure to the planet and its future.

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"I adopt these words to express the gravity of what you did."

The court heard officers also found thousands of pounds of cash on Lendrum when they arrested him. At first he claimed they were chicken eggs he had bought at Waitrose before trying to fool police by saying he used them to treat his bad back.

Police subsequently searched one of his properties in Northamptonshire where they discovered equipment for egg hunting, including incubators, a GPS system and walkie-talkies.

A recent divorcee, Lendrum, who travels on an Irish passport, appeared in court wearing a grey sweater and blue jeans. Flanked by three guards, he spoke only to plead guilty, deciding to sit with his arms folded and his head bowed for the remainder of the hearing.

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The judge was told the businessman also ran a shop in Towcester selling African art and distributed mining equipment across Africa. He was described as a "model" prisoner while on remand by Nicola Purches, defending, who asked the judge for leniency so her client would be released in time to see his terminally ill father who was suffering from emphysema.

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