[Archport] Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[Alexandre Monteiro <no.arame@gmail.com>]

Bath archaeological thief caught after Bellarmine vase spotted on eBay

Bath Chronicle,Thursday, May 30, 2013

An archaeologist who stole three 17th-century vases discovered during
the development of SouthGate shopping centre in Bath was caught out
four years later after trying to sell the items on eBay.


James Vessey, 35, was employed by the Museum of London Archaeology
during an excavation in 2008.

The team uncovered three Bellarmine vessels dating back to between
1650 and 1700, which were traditionally used to protect against
witchcraft, but the items disappeared before they could be delivered
to the museum for analysis.

They resurfaced last year when another archaeologist spotted one of
the vases for sale on eBay and contacted the museum's project officer
Bruno Barber.

Police then executed a warrant at Vessey's narrowboat home in Oxfordshire.

Bath Magistrates Court was told that Vessey, who admitted theft, had a
history of stealing historical artefacts from archaeological digs
which he was working on, and in 2001 had been jailed for 15 months.

Andrea Edwards, prosecuting, read a statement from Mr Barber outlining
the impact of the theft of the Bellarmine vessels. He said not only
had the crime cast suspicion over other archaeologists, but had led to
the loss of potentially significant historical evidence.

The court heard Vessey was no longer working as an archaeologist and
had been dealing with the illness and death of both his parents at the
points in his life when he had committed his crimes.

He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to
carry out 270 hours of unpaid community work, as well as to compensate
the man who had bought the vase from him on eBay.


http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-archaeological-thief-caught-Bellarmine-vase/story-19135110-detail/story.html