Farmer fined £18,000 for digging on Scottish site from the Stone Age

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A farmer on the Scottish island of Skye has been fined £18,000 for digging up a Neolithic site.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said Duncan MacInnes had shown “a complete disregard” for the historical importance of the site on land he owns.

The 59-year-old had dug up part of the Upper Tote Cairn to use the topsoil for building a shed elsewhere on his land.

MacInnes pleaded guilty at Portree Sheriff Court in August to damaging the protected monument that has existed since around the tail end of the Stone Age.

It is believed that there is a burial cairn under the mound, close to the shore near Loch Snizort Beag in the north of Skye.

Excavations of the site in 1920 revealed remains of a coffin-like stone cist at the base, as well as a later Viking burial chamber near the top.

On Tuesday, McInnes was fined for destroying part of the site after he had excavated it between 1 and 12 December 2018.

Historic Environment Scotland had written to him three times about the existence of the grass-covered mound – which is on one side of the A855 road, and opposite the Tote Forest.

The most recent letter is reported to have been sent to him in 2015.

The agency also carried out routine site visits every 10 years, according to the Daily Record.

Andy Shanks, procurator fiscal for Grampian, Highlands and Islands, said: “As the owner of the land this ancient monument sits on, it was Duncan MacInnes’ duty to help protect it.

“Instead, he showed a complete disregard for its importance when he dug for soil and damaged Upper Tote Cairn.

“This prosecution shows how seriously COPFS takes these crimes, and we will continue to work with Historic Environment Scotland and other partners to make sure Scotland’s history is preserved.”