In an article Vandalism at Priddy; what should be the punishment? we asked what might be an appropriate sentence by using a recent case at Kingston as a comparison. Some said the two cases were too dissimilar but the English Heritage Legal Team tweeted about the the Kingston case: “Judgment handing out largest ever conservation area fine for demolition. Valuable precedent.”
As we suggested at the time: “if demolishing a house in a conservation area thereby causing a small amount of long term harm gets you a non-custodial sentence and an £80,000 fine then demolishing part of a unique and irreplaceable monument thereby causing massive harm forever gets you…” ???
No doubt we’ll all know the answer soon. In the meantime, here’s another picture –
Note the bulldozer tracks...
And here’s one of Priddy Nine Barrows, just across the road….
The Nine Barrows could be used for comparison purposes themselves perhaps, for since they aren’t unique then if it had been all of those that had been bulldozed the heritage damage would probably be assessed by a judge as far less!
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28/11/2011 at 04:35
Maju
I think that people who harm public monuments inside their property should lose ALL property everywhere and also go to jail (or be declared insane). Property, if it has to exist, must be a tool for the public good: if you can’t do even the basics, you don’t deserve any property.