Man given community order for selling sperm whale teeth

A man who illegally sold sperm whale teeth has been ordered to do 120 hours of community service.

Officers found 46 teeth worth £18,350 from the protected species at 50-year-old Tevita Lavaki's property on Mayfield Avenue in Grove, Oxfordshire.

Lavaki pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates' Court to offering, keeping and selling the teeth between August and September last year.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 court costs.

Police searched Lavaki's home with support from the National Wildlife Crime Unit and discovered the teeth had been cleaned, polished and packaged with prices on.

He had purchased them for £2,000.

In mitigation, the court heard Lavaki did not know the teeth were illegal to sell and would not have advertised them if he had known.

The teeth were important to him due to his upbringing in Fiji, where sperm whale teeth are a cultural symbol of value and trust, the court was told.

The court heard Lavaki, a father of three daughters, was "very focused on education and financial security" and accepted there was "a financial motivation to the offending".

Thames Valley Police previously said it was believed to be one of the largest seizures of sperm whale teeth in the UK.

Sperm whales are globally designated as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

They are also protected by UK wildlife legislation but still face a significant conservation threat as they continue to be commercially targeted for their ivory.

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