Raymond Scott in his shades

Over a year ago MobyLives ran a report on a man who walked into the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. with a Shakespeare folio he said he’d found while visiting Cuba and he was wondering if they could authenticate it. Police subsequently arrested the man, Raymond Scott, after it was discovered that the manuscript — an authentic first edition, alright, from 1623 and worth £3m — had ben stolen from Durham University in 1998. As it turned out, Scott was an antiques dealer from Durham. The FBI turned him over to British cops.

Now, a BBC News wire story says Scott has been brought up on charges of “theft, handling stolen goods and removing criminal property” in Newcastle Crown Court and has denied all the charges. Scott, by the way, “Mr Scott appeared in court dressed in green army fatigues and his trademark £3,000 Christian Dior sunglasses.”

Surely, anyone who pays £3,000 is guilty of something? Nonetheless, he was released on bail and is due back in court in May.