the story

In 1985, as part of his normal business, Dave Ford undertook to buy and sell some valuable paintings. Little did he know as he went to meet a potential buyer that he would soon become embroiled in a twenty year fight for justice against one of the worst of examples of police corruption in modern British history.

The story begins in 1982 when it was is alleged an aggravated armed robbery took place at Thorne Manor Lodge, home of a Mr Derek Sherbourne. Fine art with an approximate value of £100 million was stolen - a record at the time.

The first sign of something going wrong occurred when the attending officers, led by D.I. Leech, appeared not to have followed correct procedure. For instance, there is no evidence that forensics were called to the scene or that anyone took a full inventory of the alleged missing items despite the nature of the alleged crime.

The evidence that there was more than police incompetence at work is well illustrated by the fact that a number of police officers involved in the investigation offered to return the artwork to Sherbourne for a sum of £10,000 and that arrests would not be made. The money was paid to the police officers by Sherbourne’s bank manager, in cash as requested, but the alleged stolen items were not returned.

Sherbourne made an official complaint to the police complaints board. This serious accusation was upheld and resulted in officers involved in the case being sacked, taking retirement or in the case of D.I. Leech, being taken off the case and transferred to another station.

These extraordinary events have led some to ask whether a robbery did actually take place or indeed at what time the officers decided to act on their own behalf.

+++

Dave Ford entered the story in 1985 when he bought five paintings by artists such as Gainsbourgh and Sir Thomas Lawrence from a man called Barrymore using an agent called Freddy Brazil. Being a cautious businessman, Dave had done all the proper checks and had made sure that all the legal requirements had been taken care of using all means available to him.

The paintings had been cleared by both British and American customs, twice, having recently been sent to and returned from America were they had been offered for sale. All the documentation necessary to make the sale had been gathered. Dave Ford had never supposed himself to be a major art collector but instead was more interested in the pictures, intending to sell them on for a reasonable profit.

Dave let various business associates know about his paintings and was soon approached by a man who claimed to have a prospective buyer; soon enough a deal was struck and Dave arranged to meet the buyer at a motorway service station in Heston. Taking care to pack the paintings himself, Dave wrapped them in blankets, placed them in a large box and placed them in the boot of his car. He then set off to meet the buyer and complete the transaction.

On arriving at the service station, Dave parked his car and went to buy himself a sandwich. In front of him as he left the car there was a group of men dressed in white overalls, apparently playing football. Within seconds, the men revealed themselves as undercover police and immediately arrested Dave Ford for handling stolen property. Somehow the police knew that the box in Dave's car contained ‘stolen works of art'. It was immediately obvious to Dave that he had been set up.

The police had been wrongly informed that Dave Ford had artwork that was part of the aggravated armed robbery which allegedly took place at Thorne Manor Lodge in 1982, the arresting officers tried to charge Dave with the robbery but then later reduced the charge to handling.

In the end Dave Ford was given a two-year prison sentence for retention despite the fact he had affidavits clearly showing all the details of the purchase from the seller's agent and the man Dave took the delivery from, as well as the documentation that came with the paintings from America.

+++

Since receiving his sentence Dave has been fighting for the return of his property and has been trying to sue the Metropolitan Police and bring criminal charges against them.

Dave has been fighting his way through the high courts and has been thwarted by a series of legal technicalities and blatant refusals by the then Commissioner of police Lord Condon to face him in court and defend the actions of his officers despite having been summonsed to court of several occasions.

In 1995 things became even more complicated when Dave's home was then raided by the police because of a tip off that stated he was in possession of stolen bearer share bonds. Officers from the South East Regional Crime Squad conducted a search and seized ninety-two such bonds with a value of £2.8 million but when Dave was booked into Wimbledon police station only 54 bonds appeared on his custody record a fact that Dave has strong evidence including statement of a police officer, who clearly states that a fellow officer cashed some of these bearer bonds in.

At the time of his arrest Dave explained the bonds had been left to him by his father some years before but the police ran the required worldwide checks on the bonds and found that they were neither forgeries nor stolen but yet they refused to return them to Dave. Their refusal to return Dave's bonds was apparently based on the fact that it was to 'prevent him using them for fraudulent purposes'.

Incredibly, Dave now had a new battle on his hands an has made numerous legal representations to Scotland Yard have the bonds returned but to no avail.

Dave Ford claims that (the now) Lord Condon is responsible for illegal retention of his goods which includes the paintings and their documentation and his bearer bonds worth approximately £2.8m's.

Dave's life has become a world of legal arguments, filled with jargon only a trained barrister could understand. He has had to become familiar with the necessary legal parlance in order to allow him to take his case to the High Court during the many appearances he made on his own behalf.

Consider the fact that almost thirty lawyers have lacked the courage to see his case through once they felt the pressure that can be brought to bear by the highest courts in the land leaving Dave no choice but develop his legal knowledge and has at times been forced to continue his case with little or no legal support.

This story may seem unbelievable, especially taking place in a country that supposedly prides itself on a fair legal system. Perhaps its worth reflecting on the fact that at that time the UK had the second worst record of human rights abuse in Europe - second only to Turkey.

The most incredible aspect of this story is the fact that it's true.