Family funded luxury lifestyle by stealing rare and valuable antiques from pensioner neighbour

A family who funded a lavish lifestyle by stealing valuable antiques from a vulnerable pensioner have been convicted.

Des Pickersgill and his son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Sarah Pickersgill, stole an estimated £1.7m worth of ornaments over a period of six years from an unnamed woman who is now in her 90s.

At a glance: 5 key points

– Des Pickersgill, 83 preyed upon his elderly neighbour in a village near Bedford, who he occasionally done casual work for

– Along with Gary and Sarah Pickersgill, he stole numerous high value antiques, mainly rare jade ornaments, and sold them at auction

– Also implicated were friends of the family Kevin and Tracy Wigmore, who had sold three items stolen from the house at auction for more than £60,000

– All five were found guilty of fraud and converting criminal property at Luton Crown Court. They will be sentenced in August.

– If you have concerns about fraud please report them to your local police force, or report information to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit actionfraud.police.uk

What’s been said?

Investigating officer Dave Brecknock, from the force’s Serious Fraud Investigation Unit, said: “I have no doubt that Des and Gary Pickersgill hatched a plan to prey on an elderly and vulnerable victim, steal these precious artefacts and make themselves a small fortune.

“This was a pre-meditated, sly and dastardly criminal conspiracy which has caused untold worry to the victim and her family, for who I am delighted we have been able to secure some justice.

“Those behind schemes like this may think they are very clever, but this case demonstrates a clear message: we are smarter, and we will catch you.”

Background

After the victim’s house was burgled in 2017, it became apparent that many valuable items had already been missing from the property, having been taken over a period of several years.

An antiques expert brought in by the victim’s insurer recognised that a number of rare jade ornaments shown in a family photograph had been sold at high profile auctions in London between 2013 and 2015.

Detectives were able to link the sales of these items to Des Pickersgill, the victim’s neighbour, and his son Gary, while the majority of the money had been paid into his wife Sarah’s account.

It was found that the family of thieves used the proceeds of the loot to create a luxury lifestyle for themselves, going from the brink of eviction to buying a luxury home in Lincolnshire complete with swimming pool, paddocks and one and a half acres of land.

Among the items was an exceedingly rare pale green jade teapot, which had sold at Bonhams of Hong Kong for 5,920,000 Hong Kong dollars, the equivalent of around £527,000.

In July 2018, simultaneous search warrants at addresses in both Wilstead and Skegness recovered pendants and ornaments from both addresses, which were identified by family members of the victim as having been in their collection.

During a police interview, Des Pickersgill confirmed he had done gardening work for the victim, but claimed he had received small pots and ornaments as gifts on several occasions.

His son gave a prepared statement and answered no comment to all questions.

Text messages found on Gary Pickersgill’s phone showed he had been discussing the auction of more items with Kevin and Tracey Wigmore, who lived near his home in Skegness.

Kevin Wigmore had set up an account at Bonhams and sold three items for more than £60,000.

Family members of the victim again identified these items as coming from their jade collection.

A receipt recovered from the Wigmores’ address showed Gary Pickersgill had sold the couple the items.