Man in court over stolen artworks
A man is due in court today charged in connection with the theft of two valuable paintings from an Irish collection.
John Kearns, 25, is due before Clover Hill District Court in Ballyfermot, accused of burglary at Russborough House, Co Wicklow, last summer, police said.
Kearns, of Corrib Road, Terenure, Dublin, was charged at Naas District Court last night in connection with the theft of the paintings from the Beit collection.
He is the first person to be charged in connection with the theft of the paintings, valued collectively at nearly €4m.
Kearns was arrested on Friday by detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
The two paintings were stolen in a daylight heist last June - the third theft from Russborough since 1974.
One of the two paintings, Madame Baccelli, by Thomas Gainsborough and valued at more than €2.54m, was originally part of a haul of 27 paintings taken from the house by Martin ‘‘The General’’ Cahill and his gang in 1986.
The second work of art taken in the June raid was View of Florence Looking Towards The Ponte Vecchio by Bernardo Bellotto, valued at €1.27m.
