A former jeweller has become the first person in Scotland to be convicted of damaging a Site of Special Scientific Interest after breaking rocks to extract minerals she sold from a Glasgow shop and online.
Dagmara Lesiow Lasczcewski, 42, was found guilty in July at Paisley Sheriff Court of three counts of causing reckless damage to an SSSI under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act and was fined a total of £1,575, including a £75 victim surcharge. She had been charged after NatureScot investigators identified damage at two protected mineral sites.
Prosecutors said Lasczcewski used a hammer to break rocks at Fountainhead, near New Cumnock in Ayrshire, and Talnotry Mine, near Newton Stewart in Wigtownshire. Both locations are designated SSSIs and contain limited deposits of mineral-bearing rock. Minerals recovered from the Fountainhead site included stibnite, an antimony-bearing mineral described by NatureScot as rare and not found elsewhere in Scotland.
Court evidence included social media posts that placed Lasczcewski at the sites and showed her intent to extract and sell the specimens. The rocks were advertised online and were available for purchase at Lasczcewski’s Caledonian Rock Shop in Glasgow, the prosecution said. Lasczcewski, a former jeweller and pawnbroker, told investigators she shifted to selling minerals after discovering an agate on Ayrshire’s shoreline.
NatureScot geological adviser Colin MacFadyen told reporters that commercially driven collecting from vulnerable sites is unsustainable and can remove minerals from scientific study and public view. "Rare and important minerals can become lost to science and put beyond public sight," he said, noting the targeted sites are among Scotland’s most vulnerable protected mineral locations.
NatureScot said it is working to recover and return minerals removed from the two sites and estimated that up to 20 other protected mineral sites in Scotland may have been affected by exploitative collecting. The agency did not provide details on the status of recovery efforts or whether the removed specimens had been retrieved from sales.
The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act provides legal protection for SSSIs, which are designated to safeguard Scotland’s most important wildlife habitats and geological features. Authorities said damage to such sites can be irreversible when it involves the removal of limited mineral deposits formed over geological timescales; NatureScot noted that the stibnite at Fountainhead was formed during the Devonian period, about 400 million years ago.
The conviction marks the first successful prosecution in Scotland specifically for causing reckless damage to an SSSI through the removal of mineral specimens for commercial sale. Sentencing at Paisley Sheriff Court imposed a fine of £500 for each of the three counts, plus the victim surcharge.
Legal observers and conservationists have warned that the commercial market for collectible minerals, often facilitated by online sales and social media, complicates enforcement at remote or historic mining sites. NatureScot said the conviction could serve as a deterrent and highlighted the need for continued monitoring and public awareness to protect geological and ecological features on designated land.
Lasczcewski’s defence and any subsequent appeals were not detailed in court records released to the public. Police and NatureScot did not disclose whether further investigations were under way into other sellers or collectors suspected of removing material from protected sites.