A COLLECTOR has been convicted of capturing, killing and possessing specimens of Britain's rarest butterfly - the Large Blue.

Philip Cullen, 57, scrambled over locked gates and used a net to capture the globally endangered butterflies at two protected sites.

He was seen chasing and swiping his net at a Large Blue before leaving Daneway Banks nature reserve near Cirencester, with a plastic bag of glass jars.

The following day, volunteers at the Collard Hill site in Somerset challenged Cullen after seeing him with the net.

Police raided his home in Cadbury Heath, Bristol, and found a large number of dead and mounted butterflies - including Large Blues.

Cullen had labelled two of the butterflies "DB" and "CH", the initials of the two sites where he had been seen.

Magistrates convicted Cullen of six charges, relating to him killing, capturing and possessing Large Blues.

The butterflies, which were reintroduced to the UK after becoming extinct in the 1970s, are protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010.

Chair of the bench Colin Howells told Cullen: "We are considering a custodial sentence so we will be asking for a pre-sentence report."

Prosecuting, Kevin Withey said: "It is a unique case, there has never been a prosecution in terms of capturing and killing in the past."

Large Blues became extinct in about 1979 and were reintroduced, including to Collard Hill and Daneway Banks, in the 1980s.

Neil Hulme, of the Butterfly Conservation charity, saw Cullen climbing over a locked gate into Daneway Banks on June 18.

He watched Cullen chase a Large Blue with a net for up to 20 metres and reported him.

Mr Hulme described the people who collect Large Blue butterflies as "a small hardcore".

"It is not widespread but the people involved are usually quite determined," he added.

Bristol Magistrates' Court heard that it would be "very easy" to catch one of the butterflies in Cullen's small net, due to their slow flight pattern.

Mark Greaves, a volunteer for the charity, said there was a secondary market for Large Blue butterflies mocked up to look like "old Victorian species".

These can fetch between £200 and £300 each.

A warrant was executed at Cullen's home in February 2016 and officers found a large number of butterflies, including the two Large Blues.

Geoffrey Martin, of the Natural History Museum, said there were up to 30 trays of butterflies and moths at Cullen's home.

Cullen claimed the DB and CH labels related to the butterflies' colouring, "dark blue" and "cobalt hue".

The number 18 next to the letters related to the wingspan of the butterflies when landing and not the date he captured them, he insisted.

But Mr Martin told magistrates that he had never seen specimens labelled in such a way.

In police interview, Cullen admitted selling butterflies at auction but claimed he bought the majority from Europe.

He will be sentenced on April 7.