[MSN] An elderly Scottish earl suffering from dementia was tricked into selling a valuable family urn for a fraction of its value by a professional conman, a court was told yesterday.

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94-year-old earl ‘tricked into selling family heirloom for £100’ 
 
CALUM MACDONALD September 15 2006 
 
An elderly Scottish earl suffering from dementia was tricked into selling a
valuable family urn for a fraction of its value by a professional conman, a
court was told yesterday.

Patrick Francis Maitland, the 17th Earl of Lauderdale, was so unwell by the
time he was visited by an allegedly bogus antiques dealer that he was not
even allowed a key to his own front door. Earl Lauderdale, 94, suffers from
dementia and was regularly taken advantage of by people, his son told the
court.
The earl, who has had a number of strokes and requires a walking stick and a
full-time carer, was said to have been paid just £100 by Lee Collins for a
valuable 18th century armorial urn.
His son, Viscount Ian Maitland, told Blackfriars Crown Court in London how
his father had been "taken to the cleaners" and "spectacularly" overcharged
by tricksters in the past.
He told the court: "Taxi drivers would charge him £30 or £40 for a fare
worth £1.50.
"When he went to see people they sensed this was a man they could take to
the cleaners.
"He was not able to manage his affairs and so on. The doctors recorded
dementia.
"He didn't understand his electricity bill. He'd been spending £1000 a month
on postal lotteries."
The 67-year-old lord told the court he estimated the value of the urn to be
£1000 and there was no reason for his father to sell it.
The ailing 17th earl is the Bearer of the National Flag of Scotland, one of
the hereditary Great Offices in the Royal Household of Scotland.
The office was bestowed on his ancestor Charles Maitland, the third earl, by
Charles II in 1676.
The earl was elected Conservative MP for the old Scottish constituency of
Lanark in 1951, but had the Tory whip withdrawn in 1957 and sat as an
independent in the Commons until 1959.
He now lives in a four-storey terraced house worth £2m in Knightsbridge,
London.
Lee Collins, 39, of Brighton, and Mark Duncan, 33, of Buxted, variously deny
a total of 18 counts of conspiracy, theft and deception involving 13 victims
between February 1, 2003 and April 30, 2005.
The court was told the pair, nicknamed the Knocker Boys, cold-called their
victims and pressurised them into letting them stroll round their wealthy
homes to look at priceless paintings, jewellery and furniture.
They would then either offer the owners a fraction of the value of the
antique, convince them the item needed repair or simply pocket it and walk
off, the court heard.
The court heard Earl Lauderdale was one of a string of elderly and wealthy
people allegedly targeted by Mr Collins and Mr Duncan. 
Other alleged victims included frail aristocrats, the widow of a celebrated
artist and a descendant of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout
movement.
During the visit to Earl Lauderdale's home, Mr Collins also appeared to
scrutinise an oil painting, the court was told.
The earl's housekeeper Jelenka Cvijetic was so concerned she phoned his son
and daughter, Viscount Maitland and Lady Olga Maitland, the former
Conservative MP. Both visited their father following the call.
Lady Maitland told the court her father "had no idea he had sold the family
heirloom...he did not realise the transaction had taken place.
She said: "He had spent all his life protecting family interests, not
selling them."
Lady Maitland said she later called the telephone number on Mr Collins's
business flyer and, although unsure who she was speaking to, managed to
convince them the urn should be returned.
Once it was safely back in their hands, the £100 they had been given for it
was returned.
The trial continues.
 
http://www.theherald.co.uk/