A BELFAST antiques dealer told a Crown Court jury yesterday that when his car was stopped and searched in London he believed he was the victim of a Jeremy Beadle prank. "But suddenly it was no joke," said Mr Jean-Marie Delbart, a Frenchman, who is on trial on seven charges of handling stolen antiques worth nearly Pounds 60,000.
"When I was stopped I thought someone was playing a prank and I expected Jeremy Beadle to arrive. Later, l realised the seriousness of my position. I was baffled by events.
Mr Delbart (46), of Rugby Avenue, Belfast, who is also a well known Belfast restaurateur, told Judge Derick Rodgers that most of the items involved in the charges had been bought by him from travelling people. Among the antiques found when he was stopped in London on September 30th, 1994, was a painting said to be by John Russell with an estimated value of Pounds 25,000, which is now in the National Gallery in Dublin for safe keeping.
Also in the Volvo Estate was an 18th-century Irish card table worth Pounds 7,000, stolen from Castletown House in Co Kildare in May 1994, and the property of the Irish Georgian Society.
The articles were all stolen during burglaries, mainly in the Republic, during the summer of 1994. The witness said he had taken the antiques, which included silver, clocks and furniture, to London to sell. He intended to have the pictures valued at well-known auction houses such as Christie's or Sotheby's.
Asked what would happen if he took a stolen painting to one of these firms, he said: "They would inform me it was stolen and confiscate the painting and the money I paid for it would be lost. There would be no reason to do it".
Mr Del hart gave evidence that he had been buying antiques from travelling people since he first opened an antiques shop in Donegall Pass, Belfast, in 1976. This shop was open until 1981 when he went into the restaurant business, and up to that time there was nothing suspicious about anything he had bought from them.
He agreed that when he returned to Belfast after his arrest he found his home had been searched and a large number of antiques photographed, some of which were included in the items before the court. He also agreed that he had taken several pieces of furniture to be restored, intending them to go on sale at an antiques fair. "I was not told that nothing should be removed from the house," he told the jury.
Mr John Orr QC, for the defence: "Did you know or believe that any of the items found in London or at your home were stolen?" Mr Delbart: "No, of course not". He added he had dealt before with the people who had sold the items to him and had never received anything that was suspicious or had been seized by the police.
"There were never any under-hand deals between the travellers and myself, nothing behind closed doors or after dark," he said. He would normally pay cash, although some items were bought on approval" for payment to be made after they were sold, and he still owed them some Pounds 15,000.
During cross-examination by Mr Ken McMahon QC, for the prosecution, Mr Delbart said he had not felt the need to ask any questions about what he was buying.
The trial continues.