Quartet charged with illegal metal detecting due to appear in court next month

Four men who were arrested after being found at a scheduled ancient monument with metal detecting equipment in October last year have been charged.

The four men were discovered and arrested at the site in Mid Suffolk which is protected.

Metal detecting on sites scheduled as ancient monuments is illegal without permission from the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The men were spotted at 10.15pm on Wednesday, October 12, last year, and subsequently arrested on suspicion of using a metal detector on a site scheduled as an ancient monument, contrary to Section 42 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act.

The group was also found in possession of items suspected to have been from the site.

The men were taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre for questioning, before being released under investigation.

Bradley Ling, 24, of Pond Lane, Surlingham, in Norfolk; Kyle Mickleburgh, 25, of Donchurch Close, Norwich; Michael Travell, 37, of Beverley Road, Norwich; and Aaron Williams, 25, of Fleeters Hill, Hingham in Norfolk, have all been charged with the use of a metal detector in a protected place without the written consent of the Commission, as well as being charged with going equipped for theft.

Williams was also charged with removing without written consent an object of archaeological/historical interest found using a metal detector in a protected place.

All four men are due to appear at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on May 26.