A fisherman has been ordered to pay back more than £100,000 that he made from fishing illegally in Christchurch Harbour.

Shane Barton, 42, from Plymouth, was handed the confiscation order, which totalled £104,147, at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, June 17.

The order was the culmination of a multi-agency investigation following Barton’s arrest when he was caught fishing illegally in the harbour in May 2014.

Barton’s fishing nets and catch were seized and he was subsequently charged with possessing criminal property.

He appeared before Bournemouth Crown Court on June 23 last year and pleaded guilty to the offence.

He was handed a three month prison sentence suspended for 24 months and a 12 month supervision order.

The court heard that Barton already had numerous convictions for other fishing offences throughout the South West and benefit fraud.

His previous offending enabled Dorset Police’s economic crime unit to apply the criminal lifestyle assumptions under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Source: The Bournemouth Echo

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