§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement on the decision not to prosecute the person caught plundering an archaeological site west of Bedford in June this year.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Director of Public Prosecutions has no knowledge of any case in 1993 in which the CPS has been asked to consider the prosecution of any person for any offence under the Theft Act 1968 or under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 in respect of theft from, or damage to, an archaeological site. A case of this nature which the hon. and learned Member may have in mind was considered in 1991, but no sufficient admissible and reliable evidence was available to found a prosecution.