Mushroom thief fined after picking in Richmond Park

Posts : 738 Join date : 2011-11-14 Location : Kingston

A man who interfered with mushrooms in Richmond Park has been fined.

Grzegorz Szumielewicz, 47, of Lismore Close, Isleworth, pleaded guilty to removing the fungus from the royal park without written permission from the Secretary of State at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on December 2.

He was given a conditional discharge for six months, ordered to pay £30 of costs to the Crown Prosecution Service and a £15 victim surcharge.

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/11653028.Mushroom_thief_fined_after_picking_in_Richmond_Park/?ref=mr

I have seen guys collecting shrooms down by the semi-tidal before. And I know a certain TAC officer is partial to "chicken of the woods"...

What do you guys think? Apart from anything else, doesn't seem worth the expense and faff of enforcing when it ends up in the "guilty" party paying £30 costs and £15 "victim surcharge"!

Depends what sort of mushrooms he was picking I guess... maybe it was all they could get him on.
In this age of cut-backs I do wonder how the cost of having a special "Metropolitan Police Royal Parks Operational Command Unit" is justified though.

Posts : 51 Join date : 2011-01-26 Location : New Orleans

What a waste of time and money, ridiculous.

There's always been a ban on picking wild flowers and plants from country parks - when I was a kid I we had a family trip to Wanstead Park, near the lake. I picked a couple of bluebells in the wood to give to my mum, the old feller went bananas, tore me off a strip and buried the offending items, I then had a serious talking to about NOT picking wild flowers (or anything else) in any Park, wildlife sanctuary or whatever.......

People still do it, most of 'em never get caught.

PS - I was about 7 or 8 at the time so it would have been around 1950

Yep I just now met someone who regularly frequents the park and apparently there's a clear set of bye-laws posted at the entrance and picking any flowers or fungi or removing anything from the park are explicitly forbidden.

Posts : 738 Join date : 2011-11-14 Location : Kingston

As I recall its also illegal to remove logs and wood, including shifting them around, as they are important habitats for insects, especially stag beetles.

Makes sense I suppose, with so many people using the park. Similar to taking fish for the table from they Thames really. Just seems a little pointless really when there is such a low penalty!

imagine if they did prosecute with the same vigour for taking fish and even leaving litter on the bank, it might just make a difference

When I do early mornings over bushy park you see the hippys picking them around the pond didn't know it was illegal

I remember a guy drove into a field on a private part of the Thames I was fishing a few years ago. Got out then started to crawl on his knees.
Curiosity getting the better of me I walked across and asked the obvious question.

'Picking mushrooms' came the response.
'Very nice' I replied....'but this is private land, so do one' Wink

Ian

Posts : 114 Join date : 2010-06-28 Age : 46

I don't think the chap was picking 'magic' mushrooms otherwise he would have been charged under The Misuse of Drugs Act. Still strikes me as waste if time though, unless they were rare fungus but if he was picking rare fungus I would assume the penalty would be stiffer.

magic mushrooms are not illegal.

private land,do one. very nice.

Posts : 738 Join date : 2011-11-14 Location : Kingston

William Pettigrew wrote:: magic mushrooms are not illegal.

private land,do one. very nice.

Possessing them is illegal mate...not if they're naturally growing on your land, but if they're on your person or picked and on your property.

thanks james,i better empty my stash.

Posts : 738 Join date : 2011-11-14 Location : Kingston

William Pettigrew wrote:: thanks james,i better empty my stash.

No point in letting them go to waste Willie.

Posts : 738 Join date : 2011-11-14 Location : Kingston

http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/11749836.Mushroom_tamperer_gets_conditional_discharge_after_Richmond_Park_picking

Looks like they're still on the case, with another hefty £15 "victim surcharge" imposed on this feckless "mushroom tamperer"...

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