Stolen antiques worth £400k ‘sold on by dealer’
RARE antiques including family heirlooms worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were stolen in burglaries and sold on by a “dishonest” dealer, a court heard.
Antiques dealer Vincent Clegg denies 14 counts of fraud and handling stolen goods. He is on trial at Newport Crown Court.
Opening the case, prosecutor John Ryan said: “This is a man who knew his trade.”
The court heard rare and highly valuable antiques and works of art were stolen during three burglaries in Cardiff, the Cotswolds, and Gloucestershire.
Mr Ryan said the items stolen in those burglaries had an estimated value of around £400,000.
Prosecutors allege Clegg received some of those stolen goods and sold them on to well-known auction houses, fraudulently claiming to be the lawful owner.
The court heard the first burglary occurred in April 2005 at Forthampton Court, in Gloucestershire.
Mr Ryan told the jury about 60 antiques were stolen, valued at £100,000, including a miniature portrait of Joseph Yorke, Lord Dover, worth £2,000.
In November 2014 the defendant took that portrait to Bonhams Auctioneers to be sold and prosecutors allege he knew it was stolen.
The second burglary happened in May 2010 in the Cotswolds.
Mr Ryan said about 50 family portraits were stolen from Caroline Beaumont, who was in her eighties, shortly after her husband’s funeral.
The portrait collection was valued at £150,000 and a collection of 25 pieces of blue and white china worth £5,000 were also taken.
Prosecutors said Clegg tried to sell some items at Bonhams in November 2014 and January 2015.
The third burglary occurred at a property in Cyncoed, Cardiff, in November 2012, shortly after the death of victim Susanne de Wilde’s husband. Mr Ryan said: “She went into the lounge and discovered the window had been broken.”
Items including about 50 paintings, as well as antique watches and gold boxes – valued at £158,000 – were stolen.
Prosecutors said Clegg, 53, tried to sell a £4,000 enamel watch at Fellows Auctioneers in September 2013, then a gold vignette and military portrait in September 2014.
It is alleged he also tried to sell items including a watch and a gold ring at Woolley and Wallis Auctioneers in Wiltshire in February 2014.
The court heard he sold an antique watch to a customer at Portobello Road Market in London for £2,200 two months later.
Prosecutors said he went on to sell stolen vignettes at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, then six gold boxes to a customer at a market for £13,000. A month later he sold three gold boxes for £11,000 to another customer at Portobello Market, it was claimed.
Clegg was investigated and interviewed by the police in April 2015 and May 2016.
He accepts handling stolen items but states he did not realise they were stolen until notified by police.
Mr Ryan said: “The issue is whether he knew or believed those goods to be stolen.
Clegg, from Heath Drive in Romford, London, denies three counts of handling stolen goods and 11 counts of fraud.
The trial continues.