Stop him... He’s trying to steal the Magna Carta
‘US tourists and stonemasons foiled theft’
A MAN’S bid to steal Magna Carta was foiled when he was unable to smash open the protective glass case containing the priceless document, a court was told yesterday.
Hammer-wielding Mark Royden, 47, desperately tried to flee Salisbury Cathedral after his raid but was caught by stonemasons and US tourists, the jury heard.
After he was apprehended, he allegedly said: ‘Your security’s s***.’
Wearing a hood, gloves and goggles, he set off a fire alarm to cause confusion and tried to adjust a security camera to avoid being filmed, Salisbury Crown Court was told.
But the jury heard how his plan unravelled when he was unable to hammer his way into the case holding Magna Carta, one of four surviving copies from 1215, in the cathedral’s Chapter House. Rob Welling, prosecuting, said visitors, including US tourists, and a member of staff tried to contain him within a set of glass doors but he threatened them with his hammer and fled.
Cathedral worker Leigh Chalmers, one of those who tried to catch Royden, told the court: ‘The Americans were shouting “He’s trying to steal the Magna Carta, stop him”. I was saying “Please, please stop him”.’
Tourists Matt and Alexis Delcambre, who were visiting the cathedral when the incident happened on October 25 2018, gave evidence from Lousiana in the US by live video link.
Mrs Delcambre told the court she heard the fire alarm go off and grew suspicious when she saw a man wearing a hoodie and carrying a claw hammer heading towards the Chapter House.
She said there was said ‘something was odd about him’ so she alerted a guide and her husband, who shut the doors to ensure the man – who the prosecution says is Royden – could not escape.
Mr Delcambre said he and the guide tried to hold the doors shut but ‘he was pushing quite violently’. He added he was forced to let go of the door he was holding when Royden ‘raised the hammer and… said “f*** off”’.
Royden fled and the tourist gave chase, shouting for help from stonemasons working in a goods yard. ‘I grabbed him by the arm and one of the workers came over and bear-hugged him,’ said Mr Delcambre. ‘The hammer fell to the ground and I kicked it around 15ft away.’
Judge Richard Parkes QC thanked him for his ‘public-spirited actions’.
Mr Welling said that before the raid Royden had studied the cathedral’s layout and the placement of CCTV cameras so he could ‘enter and leave without being seen or recorded’. But his attempt to steal the ancient charter failed for two reasons.
‘First, the safety glass protecting such an important historic document was just too tough for the tool he brought,’ said Mr Welling. ‘Second, he did not bank on there being so many good-spirited visitors and members of staff who would be willing to intervene.’
Mr Welling told the court that after Royden was arrested he said he should ‘get a medal for what he had done’ and that ‘he could have done more damage if he had a samurai sword’.
Adding the would-be thief smelt of alcohol, he said: ‘He made other comments about Muslims, Tasers and having some object strapped to his back.’
Royden, from Canterbury, Kent, also made an ‘odd prepared statement’ to police. ‘It appears that he is doubting the authenticity of the Magna Carta,’ said Mr Welling.
His comments included: ‘You can’t talk to me about the Holy Grail, so to speak.’
Royden denies a charge of attempted theft and a second count of criminal damage to the security case costing £14,466. The trial continues.
‘Something was odd about him’