The owner of a glamping site who disabled bird scaring devices that he believed were disturbing his guests is determined to clear his name in court. Nigel Marsh, aged 60, expressed his determination to fight the accusations of theft made against him, which came after a change of heart by the prosecution.
Feeling unfairly treated, Nigel Marsh felt like a criminal when he was arrested and detained in a police cell. His actions involved dismantling gas-powered guns that were generating loud noises every 20 minutes throughout the day, causing disturbances to his guests.
In response to the unaddressed disruptive devices, the married father of three decided to take action himself due to the police’s lack of intervention. Despite his actions in disabling the devices, he made sure to store the removed parts carefully with the intention of returning them to their rightful owner.
The Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to pursue the case after stating there was ‘no realistic prospect of conviction’ over the incident at the upmarket Dam Hill Plantation site in Edgefield, near Holt in Norfolk.
But it has now changed its mind and ordered Mr Marsh to appear at King’s Lynn Magistrates Court on January 22 to answer a charge of theft.
The defiant businessman told the Mail: ‘I don’t know what the new evidence is because right from the start they’ve had a photo of me removing the items.
‘The owner had hidden a camera in the bushes after the device had been turned off a few times.
‘Of course, I will state my plea – which will be not guilty – and I will ask to go to crown court [for a jury trial].
Glamping site owner, Nigel Marsh, has insisted he will ‘fight all the way’ to clear his name after he was charged with theft because he removed bird scaring devices he claims were pointed at his campsite in North Norfolk
The 60-year-old claimed the scarer was being set off every 20 minutes between 7am and 7pm (pictured: A bird scarer similar to the ones Mr Marsh disabled)
Mr Marsh said he was ‘treated like a common criminal’ after he was arrested and held in a cell when he removed the gas-powered guns. Pictured: Inside a glamping ‘pod’ at the site
‘I will fight all the way. I have a criminal barrister who will be representing me.’
But the gamekeeper who placed the bird scarers – and has strenuously denied using them to harass campers – described the new development as ‘wonderful’.
Rob Chambers, 51, who described himself as ‘mystified’ and ‘upset’ when the CPS last month revealed it was not taking the case further, said: ‘At this precise moment, I can’t comment because it’s going to court [but] there was more than enough evidence.’
The bizarre dispute dates back to March last year, when Mr Marsh said the bird scarers, which are designed to protect crops, were set up around the perimeter of the land he rents for his business, My Mini Break.
Rather than pointing towards arable land where seeds would be sown, he claimed they were pointed ‘down into the bowl of the quarry’ where his guests sleep.
‘I had mothers, children and dogs scared because of the bangs. They would go off every 20 minutes from 7am to 7pm at night. I feel I have been under attack,’ he said.
He also claimed the rotting carcasses of deer, rabbits and hares were ‘thrown into the hedges’ beside the site and the water supply was switched off on several occasions after someone tampered with the valve on a grass verge.
Norfolk Police were contacted in June but said there was ‘no crime’, so he removed the guns from two devices which he said were 50ft away from campers, leaving behind the gas canisters and batteries that powered them.
He also claimed the rotting carcasses of deer, rabbits and hares were ‘thrown into the hedges’ beside the site and the water supply was switched off on several occasions after someone tampered with the valve on a grass verge
The scarers were allegedly pointed ‘down into the bowl of the quarry’ where his guests sleep, rather than towards land where crops would be sown (pictured: A pod at the Dam Hill Plantation site in Norfolk)
A third gun was left untouched, as it was 150ft away from his site.
Mr Marsh insisted that he had no intention of permanently stealing the devices, which are worth up to £400, and only wanted to silence them.
He kept them in plain sight in his grain store, giving him a chance to try and reason with the owner if they came to collect them.
But he was arrested late at night on October 12 at his home in Heacham, Norfolk, and taken to King’s Lynn police station.
Officers made him remove his belt and shoes for his own ‘safety’ and his fingerprints were taken. He then spent two hours in a cell before being questioned.
Mr Chambers last month stated it was a ‘load of rubbish’ to suggest the scarers were deliberately pointed at the campsite and claimed that they had been used at the same spot ‘for years’ before Mr Marsh opened his site in 2023.
‘They were just pointed in the air. There was nothing vindictive about it. I don’t know the guy. I have never met him,’ he said.
Complaining that the CPS had dropped the case, he added: ‘I believe there was more than enough evidence for a prosecution – but they let him off due to him saying that he had not nicked the scarers for financial gain.’
Mr Marsh insisted that he had no intention of permanently stealing the devices, which are worth up to £400, and only wanted to silence them
In 2015, Mr Marsh won £25,000 compensation from Cambridgeshire Police when the force settled on the eve of a county court hearing into allegations of false imprisonment, assault and malicious prosecution.
The then-publican’s solicitor claimed police wrongly took sides in a business dispute.
Last year, Mr Marsh was left substantially out of pocket following a planning dispute about another glamping site he owns in coastal Hunstanton.
West Norfolk Borough Council dropped a case against him, leaving him with a £130,000 legal bill.
The CPS said of this latest matter: ‘An original decision of No Further Action was overturned following a victim’s right to review.’
