Brit antique dealer convicted for handling stolen Shakespeare folio

London, July 10 (ANI): A jury at Newcastle Crown Court has convicted 53-year-old Raymond Scott of handling stolen goods in the extraordinary case of Shakespeare's First Folio, which went missing from a locked cabinet in Durham University's Pallas Green Museum in 1998.

According to The Telegraph, the charges relate to one of the surviving copies of the 1623 compendium, worth 1.5million dollars, of Shakespeare's plays from the University in 1998. It was handed in by Scott to the world-renowned Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC a decade later.

Scott was remanded in custody by Judge Richard Lowden, saying "There will, in due time, be an inevitable substantial custodial sentence."

The judge adjourned the case to a date to be fixed to allow a psychiatric report to be prepared.

He faces a maximum of 14 years for the more serious charge of handling stolen goods.

The book is regarded as one of the most important works of literature ever printed and part of England's "cultural legacy" to the world.

Experts found it had been "damaged, brutalised and mutilated" after it was stolen.

Scott, however, denied all the charges but declined to give any evidence in his defence during his three-week trial.

Earlier, he told Durham Police detectives that he discovered the book in Cuba.

"I am not saying that the experts are lying or that they are being deceptive but it rather looks as if their brief has been to compare the Cuban copy with known records of the Durham copy and look for similarities" the paper quoted him, as saying.

"It is all a very cosy world. It is sort of like a conspiracy; they are ganging up against me," he added. (ANI)