HFM News reports:
Five men have gone on trial accused of stealing rare art work worth over £1.5m from a stately home near Market Harborough.
The paintings, including two worth half-a-million pounds each, were stolen from Nevill Holt Hall near Medbourne in April 2019.
The property’s owner - millionaire David Ross - was on holiday at the time.
As Nevill Holt Hall is regarded by most scholars as the principal inspiration for Bonkers Hall, I was naturally alarmed. But Lord Bonkers assures me that both his own Sunset Over Bonkers Hall and the priceless The Circumcision of the National Liberals are safe.
Kate Cronin reported the first day of the trial for the Northamptonshire Telegraph:
A gang stole £4m of 'high value' loot during a two-year spree that began with an art smash-and-grab at a stately home, a court has heard.
Among their alleged haul – taken in 22 separate raids – were 319,000 NHS facemasks taken during lockdown, Range Rovers, JCBs, piles of goods from Amazon, pallets of Joules clothing and 540 solar panels.
During an astonishing opening day of the trial at Northampton Crown Court, a jury heard details of how each of the organised crime gang was a 'willing and enthusiastic participant'.
Adel Chouhaib, Barry and Robert Mitchell, William Castle and Suray Hamdi are said to have run a plot that involved many others across Corby, around the country and across the world. They deny all the charges against them.
Time Team would surely love to dig at Bonkers Hall and find the remains of medieval deBonkers.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what you make of rumours that Bonkers Hall is guarded by the ghost of Oliver Reed as pay back for being the inspiration for his purchase and renovation of Broome Hall. If this is true then the noble lord has little to fear from burglars
ReplyDeleteThank you both. I shudder to think what the Time Team might find if they dug at Bonkers Hall. And the ghosts that guard it are scarier than Oliver Reed and Richard Harris after a night on the booze put together.
ReplyDelete