Trefriw man guilty of selling porpoise skull on eBay

Sep 20 2008 By Shelley Coyle

YOU can sell your house, life or virginity on eBay, but not a harbour porpoise, a Trefriw man has found to his cost.

Christopher Mellenchip, 44, of Top Road, Trefriw, pleaded guilty to selling the skull of a harbour porpoise skull at Llandudno magistrates court on Wednesday.

Under European rulings on the trading of endangered animals, it is prohibited to sell a “worked” (ie altered or decorated) part of an endangered animal which died after 1947 without a DEFRA certificate.

North Wales Police were tipped off by the internet auction site eBay after Mellenchip put the painted harbour porpoise’s skull under the hammer without the mandatory certification. The auction ended on April 27, with an Italian man making the winning bid of £98.50.

Wildlife and environment officer Sergeant Rob Taylor ordered that the offending item be returned from Italy to North Wales Police.

Experts at the Countryside Council for Wales in Bangor held that the skull was from an endangered porpoise which had died some years after 1947. As such, it required documentation in order to be sold legitimately.

The defendant has a large collection of skulls, many of which belong to birds. The collection was housed in a spare room in his home. The porpoise skull was sold in a bid to make room for his mother-in-law who was moving in with him and his wife.

The porpoise skull had been passed on to the defendant by a deceased aunt who also collected skulls.

Mellenchip pleaded guilty but maintained he did not realise the porpoise skull needed a certificate. The prosecution questioned this as he had known that a lion’s skull from 1928 he had legitimately sold on eBay did not require certification.

Despite a possible maximum sentence of two years, Mellenchip’s guilty plea and reimbursal of the Italian seller resulted in him being ordered to pay £60 costs. The skull was retained by North Wales Police.

Mellenchip was adamant he would never attempt to buy or sell anything on the internet site again.