A museum manager has denied stealing items from Norfolk Museums Service, which oversees 10 museums throughout the county, including Norwich Castle Museum, and selling them off through auctions over the course of almost 20 years.
Stephen Harris entered not guilty pleas to multiple charges, including theft by an employee spanning 2005 to 2022, and concealing, disguising and transferring proceeds from the sale of allegedly stolen antiquities.
He also denied four fraud charges relating to false representation, connected to the purported dishonest sale of artefacts through Bonhams, Keys auctioneers and Lockdales.
Following what prosecutors described as extensive enquiries conducted over several years, Mr Harris, who was formerly Operations Manager at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, has been accused of exploiting his workplace access to remove valuable objects from the museum’s storage facilities and selling them for more than £50,000 at auction.
At his appearance before Norwich Magistrates Court earlier this year, prosecutors alleged that Mr Harris had misappropriated collection pieces, including ceramics, glassware and coins, subsequently offering them for sale while falsely claiming ownership.
Most importantly, according to the prosecution, he abused his position of trust as Operations Manager and used his authorised access to storage areas to remove the historical objects from Norfolk Museums Service’s custody.
The case was referred to the Crown Court due to the severity of the charges, but will not be heard until September 2027, which the Judge described as “a very unfortunate state of affairs” for Mr Harris. However, it will give him time to mount a robust defence.
As Roger Isaacs, Forensic Partner at Milsted Langon comments, “it is often said that justice delayed is justice denied and having to wait two years for his case to be heard is both unfair on all concerned and an indictment on the state of the English justice system.
Cases like this are a reminder of what can happen when trusted employees defraud their employers. Such breaches of trust are all the more poignant when the employer is a not-for-profit organisation such as a museum.
“Although the long delay before the trial is unacceptable, at least it will give time for a full forensic accountancy examination of the financial evidence to be undertaken.”
Sources: BBC News