Artwork theft case drawing to a close

A man has been found guilty of stealing a Ralph Hotere framed drawing he was allowed to take from a woman's home for glass repair.

The man, 55, denied stealing the drawing Black Window between April 18, 2001, and April 14 last year.

But when the case ended in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, Judge Gary MacAskill, of Christchurch, found the charge proven.

Convicted, fined $2500, ordered to pay $18,000 reparation, court costs of $130 and witnesses' expenses of $50, the man has continued interim name suppression until noon today in order for him to file an appeal against the judge's refusal to grant him final name suppression.

The case was part-heard last December and adjourned to yesterday after Judge MacAskill allowed an application from Sergeant Paul Knox for the prosecution to call expert witness evidence to establish the value of the drawing.

Yesterday, evidence given by now-retired Marshall Seifert, former owner of the Marshall Seifert Gallery in Dunedin, resulted in the judge being satisfied that at the time the drawing was stolen its fair market value was "at or about $18,000".

Mr Seifert had not seen the original drawing but, over the years, he had assessed most types of Hotere's works, including his drawings.

The owner's evidence, in December, was that Black Window was one of three drawings given to her by Hotere as a Christmas present in 1984. It had never been photographed or exhibited. It had been seen only by her and visitors to her home.

Yesterday, defence counsel Ina Stewart argued it was not possible to establish the value of the drawing without it being seen.

But the judge said the court was often faced with the situation of an item being missing, and had to reach a decision based on the evidence.

Yesterday, after the charge was found proven, Miss Stewart submitted it remained the defendant's instruction that Window In Spain was the Hotere drawing he originally received. He had no previous history of dishonesty, she said.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES