Durham museum targeted in gang's £57m plot to steal rhino horn and artefacts
Fourteen men linked to an organised crime gang have been convicted of plotting to steal rhino horn and Chinese artefacts worth up to £57 million in a series of museum and auction house raids.
A jury today convicted four of the gang's generals'' who helped to plan and oversee a string of offences, including break-ins at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and Durham's Oriental Museum in 2012.
John Kerry'' O'Brien Junior, RichardKerry'' O'Brien, Michael Hegarty and Daniel Turkey'' O'Brien were found guilty after a trial which could not be reported because of similar offences committed by travelling criminals dubbed theRathkeale Rovers''.
The two-month trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard that ten other men had previously been convicted for their parts in the conspiracy, which included a bungled attempt to steal a rhino head from Norwich Castle Museum in February 2012.
Although jurors heard that exhibits stolen in Durham and Cambridge were valued at around £17 million, detectives believe they may have fetched up to £57 million on the booming'' Chinese auction market.