A rogue antique dealer deliberately targeted elderly homeowners in the poshest parts of London, flogging their valuable collectibles without permission or simply keeping them, a court heard yesterday.
Peter Taylor, 61, printed up convincing-looking flyers and business cards, presenting himself as a legitimate expert, who could obtain good prices at auction for the victims’ property, the jury were told.
Isleworth Crown Court heard the estimated loss to the 14 customers was approximately £195,920-plus.
Trading under his previous legal name of Peter Tillott he operated in and around Kensington; Fulham; Chelsea; Notting Hill and West Brompton in West London.
One victim, the jury were told, is Lady Patsy Alliott, who is still missing her valuable candlesticks and prints. “She doesn’t know what happened to them,” said prosecutor Katrina Charles.
Taylor, of St. Margarets Road, St. Margarets, Twickenham, has pleaded not guilty to fourteen counts of fraud relating to each individual complainant between March, 2016 and February, 2019.
“This case involves the targeting of elderly and vulnerable complainants,” said the prosecutor. “He posted flyers and business cards, purporting to be from an established auction house, offering to collect, value and sell items.”
Taylor operated under the company name ‘Chelsea Auction House’ and ‘Muck2Brass’, listing his 23 year-old son as a director.
“The defendant changed his name for a fresh start because the reputation attached to Peter Tillott had become a liability,” said the prosecutor.
One customer, company director Sheila Newsum, 83, who lives in a £1m West Brompton apartment responded to Taylor’s business card, which he shoved through her letterbox, the court heard.
She is the Chair and Managing Director of Hunters Associates, an international events company and allowed Taylor to remove valuables from her home, suffering a £11,340 loss, she says.
“She felt she was dealing with a knowledgeable professional,” added Ms Charles, but regretted dealing with Taylor as her property was “sold at a huge loss.”
Also replying to his business card was Austrian-born psychoanalyst Karin Syrett, 79, who lives in a £800,00 apartment in Royal Crescent, Notting Hill.
She complains her property was sold by Taylor without her permission.
Also swindled, say the prosecution, was businesswoman Caroline Shamash, 50, boss of Saffron interior arts, which provides “luxury items” to high-end interior designers.
She says Taylor disappeared with £5,295 worth of her property, including an expensive chandelier of hers she discovered he was selling on eBay.
The businesswoman hunted the evasive Taylor down to his business unit, where she met his son. “He told her the defendant was either out, unwell or in hospital,” explained Ms Charles.
Elderly gent Arnold Rosen says he lost £2,285 worth of furniture Taylor removed in a hire van from his garage to sell at auction, the trial heard.
Another gentleman, Roy Turner, allowed Taylor and two assistants to walk out of his home with a treasured collection of thirty watercolours and prints, resulting in an estimated loss of £5,000-£10,000.
“He made repeated attempts to contact the defendant, but did not hear anything.”
French restauranteur Eric Payet, 44, allowed Taylor to clear his two old premises of all their contents and fixtures and fittings, resulting in an estimated loss of £112,000, he claims.
Taylor also cleared the home of a Helen Ford’s deceased mother and she found property, including a clock; mink coat; silver coffee pot; music centre; tankards and pair of glass carafes on his eBay account.
He had claimed the property was worthless and the complainant estimates the loss at £2,500, added Ms Charles.
Another woman, Gill Miller, contacted Taylor after he put his business card through her letterbox and later saw her property for sale online, estimating her loss at £2,500.
Veteran antiques dealer Maria Gabriela Ponce de Leao, under pressure from her children to relieve pressure on space, allowed Taylor to walk out of her home with 83 antique items.
She had already handed him over her “best antiques” earlier and claims valuables, including bookcases, chairs and a bureau were sold for rock-bottom prices at Lots Road Auctions Chelsea, resulting in a £30,000-£50,000 loss.
A Fulham property businessman, 72, plus two more men and a woman also say they were defrauded by Taylor.
The trial is expected to last six weeks.
