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A decide has ordered a former curator who the British Museum says stole tons of of artefacts to return any gems or jewelery the establishment has in its possession.
In line with courtroom paperwork, the museum claims that the previous curator, Peter Higgs, who as soon as ran the museum's Division of Greek and Roman Antiquities, stole or broken greater than 1,800 artifacts from its assortment and tons of of them. Bought on eBay.
Authorities additionally need Mr Higgs to elucidate different artefacts he says the previous curator bought on-line. Courtroom paperwork say Mr Higgs disputes the costs towards him.
At a Excessive Courtroom listening to in London, the presiding decide, Heather Williams, ordered Mr Higgs to return any objects inside 4 weeks. Decide Williams additionally ordered on-line funds firm PayPal to reveal knowledge regarding Mr Higgs's eBay accounts, together with the historical past of his transactions.
The museum's lacking objects embrace engraved gems and jewelry, a few of that are 1000’s of years outdated.
On Tuesday, Mr. Higgs and his household didn’t reply to e-mail and social media messages from The Occasions. In courtroom papers, attorneys for the museum mentioned the curator was “affected by extreme psychological stress” and was “unable to reply successfully to the proceedings.”
For the reason that museum introduced the theft in August, it has recovered solely about 350 of the lacking artifacts.
London police are investigating, however a spokesperson for the drive mentioned in an e-mail on Wednesday that it had not charged anybody in reference to the lacking artifacts.
The museum mentioned in courtroom paperwork that it had “compelling proof” that between 2009 and 2018, Mr Higgs “abused his place of belief inside the museum” to take artefacts, together with objects that the museum didn’t personal. had not absolutely registered in its record. The museum says Mr. Higgs bought lots of them on eBay to at the least 45 completely different patrons. These patrons reportedly embrace individuals from the US and Denmark.
Within the submitting, the museum additionally accused the previous curator of trying to cowl up the theft by making modifications to the museum's digital catalog, together with altering the descriptions of the lacking objects.
Though British newspapers have lengthy reported that Mr. Higgs was the curator on the middle of the scandal, Tuesday's listening to was the primary time the museum named him.
When the museum fired Mr Higgs for gross misconduct in July, he had been working there for greater than 30 years. In 2021, the museum promoted Mr. Higgs to performing conservator of its Greek and Roman division – a key place overseeing a few of the museum's most treasured artefacts, together with the controversial Parthenon Marbles.
Mr Higgs organized a number of blockbuster British Museum reveals, together with a 2016 exhibition on Sicilian historical past. One other of his exhibitions, “Historical Greeks: Athletes Warriors and Heroes,” toured Australia and China.
The museum's authorized crew informed the courtroom that the establishment was making an attempt to drive Mr Higgs to provide particulars concerning the objects he says he stole as a result of there was a danger they might quickly be ” Could also be irreparable.”
“So long as the objects are large, restoration of stolen objects turns into tougher because the objects are bought and resold, presumably throughout borders,” museum attorneys informed the courtroom. It added, “The earlier the museum is ready to contact different patrons, the extra possible it’s that additional property might be recovered.”