Gradel noticed that the item had been registered as belonging to the British Museum.

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It was claimed that Higgs had already been selling items by this stage, and may have made sales of objects similar to those in the collection for small sums of money in double or low triple digits.

The museum’s legal team told the court that Higgs may have sold items to at least 45 separate buyers over a 10-year period.

Covering tracks

The court heard Higgs altered the museum’s digital records to cover his tracks, after he became aware of a colleague’s suspicions. This included editing the time references and information about artefacts that had been removed, it was heard.

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The court heard he covered his tracks “using false names, creating false documents and manipulating records”. The BBC reported court documents alleged Higgs edited at least 83 digital internal records which related to stolen, damaged or missing items.

A fellow member of staff noticed during a 2022 audit of a strong-room for Greek and Roman artefacts that many items were missing, or had been damaged.

The Metropolitan Police searched Higgs’ home last year and found items matching the description of those registered with the museum’s collection, it was heard.

Higgs’ has denied this, and stated that the coins and medals in question came from a dead relative.

The British Museum’s interim director Sir Mark Jones, who replaced Fischer following the scandal, said that staff would no longer be able to access strong rooms without supervision.

Speaking to MPs last year, he said that the move would ensure “that a theft of this kind can never happen again”.

George Osborne, the museum’s chair of trustees, later announced a five-year project to properly record and digitise the entirety collection, to prevent objects being removed without detection in future.

The Telegraph, London