UKC

Hi guys, random history question: can anyone think of any examples of anyone being arrested/convicted for anything that happened on a mountain in the UK?

In reply to Rapsling:

Breach of the Peace (III)

In reply to Rapsling:

sure some of the prosecutions for killing birds of prey will refer to mountains

In reply to Rapsling:

Half of the venison eaten in Scotland in the 80/90s was poached off the hills of West Highlands.

There were 2 or 3 vans heading down the A82 every day.

In reply to Mr Trebus:

Driving up the Snowdon railway? http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-21087633

The real crime was probably building a railway there in the first place, although I don't believe anyone has ever been charged.

In reply to Rapsling:

1889 John Laurie was convicted of murdering Edwin Rose in the course of an ascent of Goatfell on Arran.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/29/century-arran-dramatic...

In reply to Rapsling:

The famous Goat Fell murder!!

Resulted in a record for a single prison sentence as I understand.

In reply to Rapsling:

Several were arrested and imprisoned for the Kinder trespasses.

In reply to Rapsling:

Not UK but, didn't a drug carrying plane crash over the back of Yosemite? Maybe it was just in a film?

In reply to Rapsling:

1972 in the Andes - cannilbalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Andes_flight_disaster

In reply to Rapsling:

Some pretty appalling crimes against fashion and common decency committed in the 80s.

Surprised there hasn't been more murder though, the Goat Fell one is the only one I've heard of.

In reply to Rapsling:

Clint Eastwood supposedly murdered a Frenchman, and Austrian and a German on the Eiger but let the baddie go because the baddie saved Clint's life.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

I think it was a true story, made into Cliffhanger.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:

A real life event that was turned into (with just a little artistic license) into the film Cliffhanger.

In reply to earlsdonwhu:


In 1977 - crashed into the Lower Merced Pass Lake.

According to folklore and urban myth, a few of the Camp 4 locals 'may' have found it and 'may' have removed some of the cargo, which 'may' have found it's way into circulation at Camp 4, and 'may' have been enjoyed by some other climbers in the valley. Some of those people who found it 'may' have profited from it too?

However, the arrival of John Bachers new VW Van at around the same time, is considered to be purely coincidental?

In reply to Rapsling:

There was a court case in Scotland in (I think) the early/mid 1980s concerning an incident in which a woman died in a fall from Beinn an Lochain in winter. My recollection of the details are fuzzy but I seem to recall her male companion was accused of having knowingly led her into a situation where she would fall - I think there was a wife involved (not on the hill) and the poor woman who fell was also involved with the man.

I'm pretty sure the case didn't lead to a conviction - it was found either not guilty or not proven. It received quite a lot of press coverage at the time, partly because of the nature of the case and also because the type of boot the woman was wearing came to be discussed in court, with Scarpa issuing a press release saying that their boots with the sloping heel were not to blame and were not inherently dangerous. I could well have got some of these details wrong with the passage of time - does anyone else remember this?

The murder of the impossible...

In reply to Chris the Tall:


Mad Colin Campbell apparently drove a herd of goats over a cliff on Stuchd an Lochain in the 1590s and tried to send his servant after them as well!

In reply to Rapsling:

Some pretty criminal attempts at making an 'art installation' have been made in the Dinorwic quarries on Elidir Fawr. Some criminal films were made there too!

In reply to Rapsling:

No one arrested, but there was a case a few years ago of the French guy found dead on a ledge on Ben alder with a gunshot wound to the head from an unusual gun and ammo. I seem to remember it was a few years before it was figured out and ruled to be a suicide, but the family still refuse to accept that verdict.

In reply to Rapsling:

I know someone who was once overcome with a sense of wellbeing and stripped naked in the warm sunshine on the summit of Robinson. To his eternal shame a walking family appeared over the nearby skyline, stopped, then scurried fast back out of sight. Does that count as a crime?

In reply to Goucho:

There's an extremely long thread on supertopo if anyone has a spare few hours.....

In reply to Doug:


Ooh, might have a look later this evening

In reply to Doug:

Only one??

What happened was far more significant than Goucho's rather homely description.

http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/73572/1977-Airplane-Crash-in-Yosemi...

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=68674

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=11491&msg=11500#m...

In reply to Rapsling:

The Naked Rambler, he has (sadly)spent a significant amount in prison, mostly for offenses committed in towns (or contempt of court) but presumably he was committing the same offense when rambling on the pennine way etc.

In reply to Offwidth:

only the first of those is really long (> 2 000 posts)

In reply to Rapsling:

Not exactly on the mountains, but there were The Bill o' Jacks Murders.
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/greater-manchester/folklore/the-...

In reply to Rapsling:

Glencoe massacre?

In reply to Rapsling:

The sad story of Fiona Torbet (nee Graham)

https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/murder-in-the-glens-a-sad-end...

In reply to Lusk:

The Moors Murders surely!

In reply to Sam_in_Leeds:

surprised no one got there earlier!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hogg who was dumped by her pilot husband in Wastwater, and more recently someone dumped his poor wife in Coniston water.

In reply to Rapsling:

There was a Taggart set in Torridon - iirc he was complaining about nylon sheets in a b&b in Shieldaig and of course in fiction the Reichenbach falls