Dutch Man Gets Four Years in Prison for Botched Monet Heist – RisePEI
A person was sentenced to 4 years in jail by a Dutch court docket Tuesday after a botched try and steal a Monet portray final 12 months. The 49-year-old man was not recognized by the court docket. He’s accused of getting labored with one other unnamed particular person to attempt to steal the portray final August.
The portray in query was housed on the Zaans Museum within the Dutch metropolis of Zaandam, which purchased the work for 1.16 million euros in 2015. Titled De Voorzaan en de Westerhem (1871), the portray dates to Monet’s early interval.
In line with the North Holland court docket that sentenced the person, the person walked into the Zaans Museum, pulled the portray off the wall, and tried to go away with it underneath his arm. One other man was allegedly ready for him outdoors the museum. Each had been armed, the court docket stated.
Whereas De Voorzaan en de Westerhem’s seascape is neither notably well-known nor very costly so far as Monets go, the court docket referred to as it a “distinctive and subsequently irreplaceable canvas by a world-renowned painter.” The portray nonetheless can’t be displayed “for safety causes” even after restoration, the court docket stated.
A commotion is believed to have ensued through the botched heist that concerned the firing of no less than one shot, although nobody was damage. Amid the chaos, the person who took the portray allegedly dropped the canvas whereas making an attempt to get away on a motorbike.
The court docket referred to as the failed heist a “notably brutal” one as a result of it happened in broad daylight.
“As a result of the theft was dedicated on a Sunday in the summertime holidays, many staff and guests had been current within the museum at the moment,” the court docket wrote in its judgement. “The theft, which additionally included capturing explosions, made an excellent impression and frightened the staff and guests current, together with youngsters.”
