Watch: Thief abseils down cliffside to steal peregrine falcon eggs

A man caught on camera raiding a peregrine falcon nest has been jailed for 18 weeks.

Footage from 23 April 2023 shows a rope being dropped from above, from which Christopher Wheeldon abseils down and steals three eggs from the cliff-ledge nest before climbing back up.

A hidden wildlife camera, which was monitoring the nest, had been put in place by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and caught the moment.

Wheeldon, 34, had previously admitted to disturbing the nest, and was sentenced at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court on Monday, 15 January.

He received an eight-week prison sentence for these crimes and a further 10 weeks for unrelated shop-lifting charges.