AN ANTIQUES dealer accused of stealing candlesticks and an engagement ring, worth a combined £5,000, from a Stanmore customer is due back before magistrates in December.
Lee Collins, 44, of Brighton, East Sussex, is accused of theft in a dwelling in alleged victim Myra Cohen's Merryfield Gardens home between June 4 and June 10 as well as theft in a dwelling of £200 worth of jewellery from Hazel Pearce of Pangbourne Drive, Stanmore, on June 22.
The third theft in a dwelling charge alleges he stole a print by 20th Century French painter and sculptor George Braque from a house in Highgate, north London, belonging to Jeanne Dodd, some time between March 15 and April 15.
Collins is also accused of fraud by false representation at the same Highgate address between March 1 and May 1 in that he pretended to be a jeweller in order to make a below market value valuation of jewellery that allowed him to make a financial gain from the purchase price offered.
The defendant appeared at Brent Magistrates' Court in High Road, Neasden, on Friday (Oct 21) where his case was adjourned until December 2 when it will be committed to the crown court.
No further details of the alleged offences were heard and Collins, who is conditional bail, did not enter a plea.
