November 26, 2004 - The Times

Thieves return for more rich pickings from a sleepy V&A
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent 
 
 
THIEVES have raided the Victoria and Albert Museum, forcing the closure of its world-renowned ceramics galleries, only days after The Times revealed serious security concerns. 

Fifteen 18th-century Meissen figures were stolen yesterday during museum opening hours. The thieves levered up a glass cabinet in the afternoon and helped themselves. The thefts, the second within two months, astonished Will Geddes, a security expert, because he had given warning of security lapses only last week in The Times. 

Commissioned by an adviser to the National Trust and English Heritage, he had conducted a survey of the V&A’s security after the theft of Chinese jade antiquities from the same ceramics galleries on October 4. He had found unlocked fire exits, open access to electrical controls and a shortage of guards only weeks after the previous theft. Of the latest robbery, Mr Geddes, of the ICP Group, an international threat management company whose clients include royalty, heads of state and Hollywood stars, said: “They can’t say they weren’t warned. 

“If I had been responsible for the security in the V&A, I would have got it sorted out the very next day after The Times report came out.” 

The V&A said that it has now closed the ceramics galleries while new security measures are implemented, which were due to have been installed on Monday anyway. 

Mark Jones, director of the V&A, said: “This theft is a great blow. The stolen figures are worth about several thousand pounds each. The thieves’ technique was similar to that used in the theft of Chinese jade from the ceramics galleries in early October. The V&A and the police are investigating the circumstances of the theft.” 

The figures, which date from the 1750s and are up to 14cm in height, include a gardener with a watering can, a peasant woman carrying a basket and a shepherd playing a bagpipe, with his dog. 

The V&A was among five national museums surveyed this month by Mr Geddes. He was commissioned by Susan Ronald, an adviser to the National Trust and English Heritage, and author of The Sancy Blood Diamond. The book, published last week, unravels a real-life theft from the Louvre. 

The author wanted to see whether other museums were at risk. She described Mr Geddes’s findings as more alarming than she had imagined. 

The V&A was the worst offender, along with the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square. Their security paled against that of the British Museum, the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. 

Mr Geddes emphasised that security audits normally take weeks and that his study of museums was an informal one, putting himself in the shoes of a potential criminal casing the joint. “The more at risk a place appears, the more likely it is to be robbed,” he cautioned. 

Mr Geddes had been shocked by the security lapses, giving warning that “our national heritage is not being safeguarded”. At the V&A, he found an unlocked door to the roof and potential escape routes, as well as an open electrical box with access to controls. “It could be used by a criminal to plunge a gallery into darkness as a decoy,” he said. 

The ceramics galleries, a series of spaces across the top floor where the theft took place, was still being patrolled by only one guard after the previous theft. The V&A’s head of security insisted that four guards have patrolled the area since the October theft, but confirmed that none of them saw anyone steal the Meissen collection.