The British Museum theft scandal continues as the museum is now suing Peter Higgs for the theft of missing items.
The scandal, which left a major dent in the reputation of the British Museum, was first revealed to the public in August of last year. While the museum only announced that a significant number of items had gone missing from its inventory, subsequent reports revealed the number to be close to 2,000 items. New reports also revealed that the main accused in the scandal was Peter Higgs, veteran curator of Greek and Roman art. who was fired from his position in July 2023.
Now, the British Museum is suing the former curator for his role in the massive theft. The museum’s lawyers claimed that Higgs had abused his position in the museum while stealing items of historical and cultural importance over a period of 10 years. The lawyers also further argued that Peter Higgs had used fake names and forged documents to steal the objects, as well as manipulating the museum records to hide the theft. They also accuse Higgs of selling the items for far less than their actual value on e-commerce platforms (a claim that was corroborated by news reports).
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The High Court judge Heather Williams has given 4 weeks to Higgs to return any museum item still in his possession, as well as share his records from eBay and Paypal. While Peter Higgs did not attend the preliminary hearing today, his lawyers say that he aims to fight back against the charges in court.
