Fitzwilliam Chinese art theft: Man found not guilty

  • Published
Jade horse, Ming Dynasty,. from Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Image caption,
Items from various Chinese dynasties were taken in a raid at the Fitzwilliam Museum

A man charged in connection with the theft of Chinese art worth millions of pounds from a museum has been cleared.

Thomas Kiely, 21, of Giraud Street in Tower Hamlets, London, was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit burglary by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court.

The 18 artworks were stolen from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge last April and have still not been traced.

Four men were sentenced over the burglary in September.

Mr Kiely was acquitted of the charge on Friday.

Police have since renewed their appeal for information regarding the whereabouts of the missing items - mainly jade artefacts from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Det Insp Becky Tipping, of Cambridgeshire Police, said: "Sadly the items, which are of huge cultural significance, have still not been traced but we still have a team of detectives working to trace [them].

"The museum would dearly love to secure the return of these artefacts and there is a reward on offer to anyone who has information which leads to their recovery."

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