Dealer who stole works of art worth £500,000 given four years in prison
AN ART dealer who stole artworks worth nearly £500,000, including paintings by the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, from clients has been jailed for four years.
Among the items stolen by Jonathan Poole were pieces depicting celebrities including Diana, Princess of Wales, model Kate Moss, the Stones’ Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, singer Bob Dylan, The Doors’ Jim Morrison and U2 frontman Bono.
Over three decades Poole, 69, made more than £435,000 by either selling artwork he was not entitled to or by taking percentages of the profits from legitimate sales. Gloucester Crown Court heard the stolen artworks had various owners, including Dire Straits’ bass guitarist John Illsley, other British collectors and a German art dealer.
Poole, an accomplished wildlife artist, ran into financial difficulties and closed his two galleries in the Cotswolds. He also attempted to take his own life. After the closure, efforts were made to trace the stolen artworks, including paintings by John Lennon and Miles Davis, and return them to their rightful owners, but some have never been located.
At a previous hearing, Poole, of London Road, Poulton, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to 26 charges of theft and fraud, which date between 1986 and 2013.
He denied a further 32 charges which were ordered to lie on file. Judge Michael Cullum said Poole’s victims had placed a lot of trust in him.
Poole will face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing which will take place later this year.
Detective Constable Steve Crilley, who led the investigation, said: “This has been a complex case which has taken a number of years to get to the bottom of, so I am glad to see Poole will be behind bars for four years.”