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Accused won't give evidence in stolen book trial
A SERIAL thief accused of stealing, mutilating and then trying to sell a priceless Shakespeare first folio has declined to give evidence at his trial.
Former South Shields Grammar School pupil Raymond Scott, 53, is accused of stealing the book of plays dating from 1623 from Durham University library in 1998 and keeping it hidden for a decade.
Prosecutors say he tried to sell the folio at the Folger Shakespeare Museum in Washington DC, USA, in 2008, because he fell into enormous debt after becoming infatuated with a woman in Cuba.
It is claimed he had stripped the book – described as "the most important in English literature" – of its boards and some pages in a bid to disguise its true identity and make a fortune from its sale.
Scott, who grew up in South Shields but who now lives in Widgeon Close, Washington, Tyne and Wear, denies theft, handling stolen goods and removing criminal property from the UK, and is being tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.
Judge Richard Lowden told the court yesterday the proceedings had reached a stage where Scott could give evidence in his own defence and that jurors may "draw such inferences as appear proper" if he declined.
Toby Hedworth QC, defending, confirmed that Scott, who has more than a dozen previous convictions for theft, all relating to shoplifting, would not be giving evidence.
At the start of his closing speech, prosecutor Robert Smith QC said jurors may ask why Scott has declined to explain his side of the story.
Mr Smith said: "We do not have any assistance from Mr Scott about any of these compelling matters, all of which, the prosecution say, build a formidable case against him.
"You are entitled to ask yourself why, had he had an explanation, he has not gone into the witness box and told you what the explanation is.
"You are entitled therefore to conclude there is no explanation that might sensibly be offered by Raymond Scott – otherwise he would have told you.
"If there is none, there is only one conclusion, the prosecution say the circumstances in which he had the folio were dishonest and he knows so."
Mr Smith told jurors; "This is quite a small court room, it is not far to walk from the dock where the defendant is sitting to the witness box, where all the witnesses in the case have stood to give their evidence, facing you.
"It is plainly a step too far for Mr Scott, for he is unwilling to enter the witness box, take the oath and give evidence in front of you.
"Of course, he is not obliged to give evidence, no one can compel him to do so and it is his entitlement, if he wishes, to remain where he is, but his unwillingness to enter the witness box carries with it certain consequences."
* The trial continues
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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