Country house raider jailed for nine years

Career criminal Graham Harkin tried to claim a £25,000 reward for returning a Thomas Tompion clock stolen from Levens Hall, near Kendal, Cumbria and thought he was dealing with an agent of its real owner.

But the exchange at Birch Services on the M62 was with a police officer, and when he was arrested officers found the clock – more than 300 years old – in the boot of his BMW.

It had been stolen in September 2009 by an intruder who used a ladder to smash a window.

Detectives from Cumbria Police liaised with other forces and linked Harkin’s mobile phone with other high value thefts elsewhere.

This week at Carlisle Crown Court he admitted burgling Firle Place, near Lewes, Sussex, where 18th century Sevres porcelain worth more than £1m was stolen in a night break-in. The country house has been in Lord Gage’s family for more than 500 years.

Detectives also placed Harkin at a break-in at Longnor Hall, Shropshire, partly because of the thief’s lack of sophistication.

Harkin’s mobile phone – used in dealings over claiming the reward for the ebony clock – was traced to both Firle Place and Longnor Hall around the times of the break-ins.

He was a National Trust member and would visit country houses to look for weaknesses in security, the court heard.

Harkin, 58, from Chestnut Walk, Wakefield, was jailed for nine years. He admitted two counts of burglary in relation to the Sussex and Shropshire break-ins and one count of handling the clock.

Gary Swindell, also 58, of Cunliff Road, Bradford, was jailed for three years for handling porcelain stolen from Longnor Hall.