(no subject)

Best rubbish defence in ages. More please BBC.

A man who was caught at Birmingham airport trying to smuggle peregrine falcon eggs out of the country has pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court. Jeffrey Lendrum, 48, admitted taking 14 eggs of a wild bird from a nest in south Wales, possessing eggs of a wild bird and attempting to evade export restrictions. It is the most serious case of its kind in many decades.

According to investigators, a cleaner noticed him acting suspiciously in the bathroom area of the Emirates executive lounge. Lendrum spent a considerable time in one of the showers, but when the cleaner entered the cubicle it was dry and there were some empty egg boxes in a corner.

Counter-terrorism officers searched Lendrum and found the falcon eggs in socks strapped to his abdomen with bandages. After seizing the eggs, the officers kept them alive by nestling them on their office computers.

Lendrum’s car was found in the long-stay car park. Inside, there was an incubator and climbing equipment including ropes and carabiners.

In his defence, Lendrum claimed he had a bad back and a physiotherapist had told him that strapping something fragile to his stomach would encourage the muscles to tense up. [BBC]