Fines of nearly £1million for overfishing crimes
From: Crown Office
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service News Release
24 February 2012
FINES OF NEARLY £1MILLION FOR OVERFISHING CRIMES
At the High Court in
The 17 vessel skippers falsely declared the quantity of fish they landed at Shetland Catch Ltd in Lerwick as a means of evading the annual fishing quota allowed to each vessel and Alexander Buchan Ltd assisted a different group of vessel skippers in making false declarations at its premises in Peterhead.
Also at the same court today, three fishermen pled guilty to making false declarations of fish landed at the premises of Alexander Buchan Ltd in Peterhead, the value of the fish being over £3.5 million. Alexander Buchan Ltd’s plea of guilty had included the landings by these three vessel masters.
Furthermore, in a separate case, three additional fishermen pled guilty to landing undeclared quantities of mackerel and herring at Fresh Catch Ltd in Peterhead, two of whom also pled guilty to landing undeclared quantities of fish at Shetland Catch Ltd in Lerwick, the value of the fish landed at both factories being over £6 million.
Additionally, Fresh Catch Ltd, a fish processing factory with premises at East Quay, Peterhead, today pled guilty to assisting vessel masters to submit false landing declarations of fish landed at its premises, the value of the fish being over £10.5 million.
Sentence on these six accused was deferred until 18 May at the High Court in
Speaking after the court hearings, Lindsey Miller, Head of the Serious and Organised Crime Division, said:
"Organised crime takes many forms. These individuals may not have been involved in drug dealing or prostitution but let us make no mistake that they were involved in significant and serious organised criminality.
"Investigations are continuing into other landings and COPFS will continue to work with Grampian Police, Northern Constabulary and Marine Scotland to target anyone that would seek to flout the law.
"The legislation is there to protect the marine environment for the good of all and to safeguard the future of the fishing industry. These men disregarded it for their own financial gain and, in a clear example of successful working between the law enforcement agencies involved, have now been brought to justice and made to pay for their crimes
Detective Superintendent Gordon Gibson of Grampian Police, who led the police investigation, said:
"The scale of crime committed by these individuals was at a level rarely seen before. The conviction and sentencing of these men today hopefully will send out a clear and lasting message that such criminality will not be tolerated.
"It was apparent during our investigations that these individuals totally disregarded any legislation to prevent this occurring and as can be seen from the landings made, they amassed huge sums of money through their own greed and today this caught up with them in a court of law."
Cephas Ralph, Head of Compliance at Marine Scotland said:
"Marine
Today’s successful court activity is an outcome that reflects the professionalism, dedication, and commitment shown by all of the Marine Scotland staff who have been involved in this enquiry. It has not been an easy task, but they have worked tirelessly to help secure the convictions obtained in these important cases. I would also like to acknowledge the cooperation given by Grampian Police, Northern Constabulary and the Serious and Organised Crime Division of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service."
Ends
Notes for Editors
1. Editors should be aware that prosecutions are anticipated against vessel masters named in the Alexander Buchan Ltd indictment who have not yet appeared in court Their cooperation is requested to refrain from publishing anything that may prejudice future proceedings.
2. Editors should also note that proceedings remain "active" for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 in respect of other individuals involved in this investigation who did not appear today at Court and as such Editors are asked to continue to act responsibly in reporting further aspects of the case. In particular, Editors should be aware that a Contempt of Court order was issued on 26 August 2010, in terms of Section 4(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981. A copy of this order is available from the Supreme Courts Department, of the
3. The 17 vessel skippers, their vessels and the amounts of their confiscation orders on 16 December 2011, and fines today are below:
• Hamish Slater (DOB 31/12/1958) Master of
• Robert Polson (DOB 01/05/1963) Master of Serene – Confiscation Order £371,300 - Fine £70,000
• Victor Buschini (DOB 14/06/1960) Master of
• Alexander Masson (DOB 22/12/1945) Master of Kings Cross – Confiscation Order £283,000 – Fine £50,000
• John Irvine (DOB 01/10/1943) Master of Zephyr – Confiscation Order £236,000 – Fine £80,000
• William Andrew Williamson (DOB 24/12/1946) Master of Research W – Confiscation Order £213,000 – Fine £45,000
• Laurence Anderson
• Alexander Wiseman (DOB 03/10/1951) Master of Kings Cross – Confiscation Order £196,000 – Fine £50,000
• David Hutchison (DOB 11/10/1945) Master of Charisma – Confiscation Order £140,900 – Fine £40,000
• Thomas Eunson (DOB 12/04/1955) Master of the Serene – Confiscation Order - £140,500 – Fine £40,000
• Allister Irvine (DOB 25/11/1948) Master of the Zephyr - Confiscation Order - £120,600 – Fine £35,000
• Gary Williamson (DOB 28/09/1959) Master of the Research W – Confiscation Order - £118,500 – Fine £35,000
• George Andrew Henry (DOB 22/10/1951) Master of the Adenia – Confiscation Order - £51,300 – Fine £12,000
• John William Stewart (DOB 28/01/1955) Master of the Antarctic – Confiscation Order - £41,300 – Fine £15,000
• George Anderson (DOB 10/02/1956) Master of the Adenia – Confiscation Order - £40,700 – Fine £12,000
• Colin Andrew Leask (DOB 08/01/1973) Master of the Antarctic II – Confiscation Order - £12,000 – Fine £3,000
• Allen Anderson (DOB 30/07/1956) Master of the Serene – Confiscation Order - £2,700 – Fine £3,000
4. Alexander Buchan Limited, which formerly operated a fish processing factory in Peterhead, was the subject of a £165,000 Confiscation Order on 16 December 2011 and today fined £240,000
5. The three accused who pled guilty to landing undeclared fish at Alexander Buchan Ltd and the amounts of their undeclared catches are as follows:
• James Smith (DOB 30/07/1957) Master of the Alert- £238,008
• John Smith (DOB 14/03/1975) Master of the Alert- £1,529,096
• Stephen Bellany (DOB 03/12/1962) Master of the Unity- £1,856,157
The three accused who pled guilty to landing undeclared fish at a Fresh Catch Ltd in Peterhead and at Shetland Catch Ltd in Lerwick and the amounts of their undeclared catches are as follows:
• Ernest Simpson (DOB 18/07/1947) Master of the Christina S- £1,468,961.64 at Shetland Catch Ltd and £551,152,49 at Fresh Catch Ltd
• Allan Simpson (DOB 03/06/1969) Master of the Christina S- £593,726.37 at Fresh Catch Ltd and £2,118,904.01 at Shetland Catch Ltd
• Oswald McRonald (DOB 29/02/1948) Master of the Quantus- £1,266,990.97 at Fresh Catch Ltd
Fresh Catch Ltd plead guilty to assisting masters of vessels landing at its premises to land undeclared fish to the value of £10,512,028.55.
Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime (
6. Article 8.1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2847/93 requires the master of a vessel to submit a declaration of the quantity of each species of fish landed within 48 hours of landing. The enforcing authorities rely on the making of such declarations to monitor each vessel’s landings against its quota.
7. Article 3(2) makes it an offence, in relation to the making of such a declaration, to knowingly or recklessly provide information which is false in a material particular. In the case of all of the landings by the vessel skippers which are the subject of this investigation there was a false declaration at Shetland Catch Ltd of the quantity of fish landed.
8. The penalty for a contravention of Article 3(2) of the above mentioned order on indictment is an unlimited fine.
9. A Confiscation Order is an order made by the court following criminal conviction, to pay a fixed sum of money from the proceeds of crime. An application for confiscation is one of the tools at the disposal of the Crown under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and Proceeds of Crime (
10. The Serious and Organised Crime Division works together with colleagues at the Civil Recovery Unit, and other law enforcement agencies, such as the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency, UK Police Forces, HM Revenue and Customs and Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to identify and recover the proceeds of crime.
11. Proceeds of Crime legislation is also used by the Civil Recovery Unit acting on behalf of Scottish Ministers. The Civil Recovery Unit investigates and recovers the property realised through criminal activity of individuals, in the civil courts without the need for criminal conviction.
Money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act is invested by Scottish Ministers in community projects aimed at alleviating the effects of crime. To date, more than £44 million has been invested in a range of activities for young people through the CashBack programme. Details can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cashback
12. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is a committed member of the Scottish Government’s Serious Organised Crime Task Force. The Task Force has a remit to pursue serious organised crime in all its forms by bringing together all agencies involved in tackling organised crime groups. Task Force members include the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, the Lord Advocate, representatives from COPFS, the Scottish Government, ACPOS, SCDEA, HMRC, SOCA and SPS. Details of the work of the Taskforce can be accessed here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/crimes/organised-crime.
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