Paintings stolen from cider heir found – by ‘The Scream’ sleuth
MILLIONS of pounds’ worth of artworks stolen during a dramatic raid on a country mansion six years ago have been recovered – with the help of the man who famously tracked down Edvard Munch’s The Scream.
Former Tory MP Esmond Bulmer, of the Bulmers cider dynasty, said the paintings were returned after private investigators succeeded where the police had failed.
One sleuth involved in the operation, former Scotland Yard detective Charles Hill, is the man who recovered The Scream after it was stolen from an Oslo gallery in 1994.
Mr Bulmer, 80, who was MP for Kidderminster between 1974 and 1983, said: ‘We thought they were lost for ever so we’re thrilled to have them back.’
His wife Susie added: ‘We strongly believe a small minority of the officers we came into contact with just thought we were rich poshos who’d get the money back from the insurance company anyway.’
Two of the 15 paintings are regarded as important works. Endymion by George Frederick Watts – one of the driving forces behind the Symbolist movement – is said to be worth £1 million. The other, Apple Blossom, is regarded as among British artist Sir George Clausen’s finest works.
During the raid on their home in Bruton, Somerset, in March 2009, a gang of five masked men left the couple’s housekeeper bound and gagged for 18 hours. ‘They threatened to pour bleach over her unless she told them where my car key was,’ Mrs Bulmer said.
Some of the gang made off with the 15 paintings while the others loaded the boot of the Bulmers’ Mercedes with a safe containing £1million of jewellery that has yet to be recovered.
As the years passed and police enquiries failed to yield any leads, the couple turned to private art investigators. One of them, Dick Ellis, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What was very apparent to me was that the robbers had a very good understanding of the layout of the property and good knowledge of the Bulmers themselves. It was very well planned and orchestrated.’
He said his first move was to place an advert in the Antiques Trade Gazette, offering a £50,000 reward for information.
In June this year, Mr Ellis received a phone call from Mr Hill to say that ‘he had been contacted and told that someone he knew, knew somebody else, who knew somebody else who had information’. What followed was a period of tense negotiation. Mr Ellis said: ‘It is not an easy process. But you can be assured that the money went to those whose information led to the recovery, not the raiders themselves.’
Before the money was wire-transferred, Mr Ellis had to authenticate the pictures at a secret location and the Bulmers were finally given the good news two weeks ago. Mr Bulmer, who is thought to have sold his stake in Bulmers for £84million in 2003, said: ‘The works are undergoing forensic analysis.
‘It would be justice indeed if the fantastic techniques now developed by scientists put these people in the dock and behind bars.’
Avon and Somerset Police said: ‘We are very pleased that the paintings have been restored to their rightful owners. Our investigation into the theft is still ongoing.’