My Colourist masterpieces worth £1/2 m were stolen, so why is no one in the frame?
Couple walk free after case collapses
WITH its vivid red and yellow blooms delicately arranged next to an appetising array of fruit, the still life by George Leslie Hunter was its owners’ pride and joy.
But the valuable painting by the world-famous Scottish Colourist is now locked away in a bank vault for safekeeping after going missing 16 years ago.
It was one of two paintings worth an estimated total of £500,000 that were stolen from the home of Elizabeth Young and her husband Harry, leading to a police investigation centring on a society wedding planner and her husband who were once their close friends.
But when the case came to court last month, 74-year-old widow Mrs Young was devastated when Penelope and Phillip Thomas-Smith walked free. The collapse of the
‘The police did their best and are very upset’
case leaves Mrs Young – who had to sell the second painting by the Scottish Colourist FCB Cadell to cover the cost of recovering the stolen artworks – with no redress for the theft from her home near Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.
‘I am more than appalled. It’s disgraceful,’ said Mrs Young. ‘The police did their best and are very upset. The outcome makes me want to vomit.’
The Thomas-Smiths now live in Bulgaria and were arrested on a European warrant there last year after moving from Northern Cyprus, which is outwith EU jurisdiction. They had gone to live on the popular holiday island in 2002 following the art theft. But at Aberdeen Sheriff Court two weeks ago, the couple had not guilty pleas accepted by the Crown following a legal debate behind closed doors.
Scotland’s legal authorities have refused to give details of their decision to allow the couple to walk free, other than to say the case was ‘discontinued due to a change in the evidential position’.
It is understood that the collapse may have been caused by a blunder over the timings in serving the arrest warrant. Mrs Young added: ‘I don’t understand how the court could get in a little huddle and make a decision without witnesses or evidence being put forward. I don’t understand how they can even be allowed to do that.’
The two paintings were left to Mr Young by his mother, a collector who bought the Scottish Colourist works in the 1960s for a few hundred pounds. They went missing in July 2001 from the Youngs’ home, on the edge of the Candacraig estate, which was then the Scottish home of Billy Connolly.
Prior to the theft, the Youngs and the Thomas-Smiths had enjoyed a close friendship. Mr Young, who died in 2010, was the Strathdon registrar for births, marriages and deaths and worked in partnership with Mrs Thomas-Smith.
While Mr Young provided a wedding venue in his Victorian summerhouse and garden, she arranged the ceremonies, accommodation and receptions, often for foreign couples drawn to the romance of the Highlands.
When the Youngs decided to go away for a weekend break, they had no hesitation in asking their friends to house-sit and look after their dog.
On their return, they discovered the paintings were missing, and called in police. There was no sign of a forced entry to the property, and police quickly suspected an inside job. Mrs Young recalled: ‘We were devastated. It was very up and down emotionally. It definitely affected Harry badly. He lost trust in people.’ In 2006, the stolen Hunter was spotted in a Sotheby’s sale catalogue by art detectives who subsequently recovered it, along with the Cadell. It had been bought by a dealer for around £100,000 via an intermediary and brought back to the UK where it was to be auctioned at Hopetoun House, near Edinburgh, with an estimated sale price of £150,000 to £200,000. Although it was recovered, neither painting was insured and the Cadell had to be sold to cover recovery costs. The Thomas-Smiths, who have always denied any involvement, are understood to have left Scotland again for Bulgaria. Last week, they did not respond to requests for comment. Police Scotland said it was not ‘looking for anyone else’ in connection with the theft.