Briton jailed over stolen Shakespeare text
AFP
LONDON- A court jailed a British antiques dealer for eight years Monday for smuggling a stolen William Shakespeare manuscript to the United States and trying to sell it to pay for his playboy lifestyle.
Raymond Scott, 53 -- described by the judge as a "fantasist" -- was found out after taking the book to staff at the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC in 2008 and asking them to verify that it was genuine.
He was however found guilty of handling stolen goods and removing stolen property -- dating from 1623 -- from the United Kingdom.
Prosecutors told the court he was in debt due to his lavish lifestyle, which included driving a Ferrari and staying in luxury hotels around the world, and tried to sell the book in order to clear it.
During his trial, Newcastle Crown Court heard that Scott had told police he discovered the book, which has been badly damaged, in Cuba.
Passing sentence on Monday, judge Richard Lowden said: "You are to some extent a fantasist and have to some degree a personality disorder and you have been an alcoholic.
"It is clear that from the (psychiatric) report you are not suffering from any mental disorder."
Durham University vice-chancellor Chris Higgins welcomed Scott's jailing, and said it was working to repair the precious document.
"The main book is intact but the title leaf, which showed ownership by Durham’s Cosin’s Library from Shakespeare’s day, was torn out and the binding was cut off with a knife.
"This was blatant cultural vandalism akin to taking a knife to Constable’s 'The Hay Wain'" he added, referring to the famous canvas by English Romantic painter John Constable.
He added that the returned Folio would be the centrepiece of an exhibition opening in January 2011. "The book will be on display in its present condition so that people can see the damage done to it following the theft," he said.
But he added: "Over the next year, the First Folio will be conserved with great care by Durham University following advice from some of the country’s expert conservators."
Sheila Hingley, head of heritage collections at Durham University, said the Folio was one of seven books and manuscripts, including a fragment of a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, taken from the Cosin's Library.
"We would love to be reunited with the other missing books and manuscripts which form an important part of the historically significant collections held at the university," she said.
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