British Museum deputy director Jonathan Williams “will be leaving” in the wake of a stolen artefacts scandal at the institution.
Williams has agreed to step back from his role while the museum head Hartwig Fischer has already resigned after a police investigation into the thefts was launched in August. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the British Museum confirmed: “Jonathan Williams will be leaving the museum.”
It comes just days after an independent review was published into the estimated 2,000 items that were found to be missing, stolen or damaged. They are thought to be worth millions of pounds.
Fischer resigned stating that responsibility for the failure must “ultimately rest with the director”. The museum later appointed Sir Mark Jones as interim director.
The review, which was published on Tuesday, said the museum was alerted to suspicionsa of theft in 2021. Academic and antiquities dealer Dr Ittai Gradel first raised the alarm bell, but an initial investigation incorreclt concluded there was no basis to the claims.
Later that year, a spot check by internal audit revealed an item not in its proper location within the Greece and Rome strongroom, leading to a wider audit of the strongroom as well as the Greece and Rome jewellery and gem collection. The audit, which began in April 2022, subsequently revealed further evidence of missing objects.
An unnamed member of staff was sacked by the museum and is said to be taking legal action. A Metropolitan Police investigation is also underway.
The review, led by Sir Nigel Boardman, Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi and Deputy High Court Judge Ian Karet, said that of the 2,000 items, some 1,500 are missing or stolen. Around 350 items have had portions removed, such as gold mounts for gems.
Museum officials believe these portions are likely to be unrecoverable because they have probably been sold for scrap, the report adds. Around 140 items have been damaged by tool marks.
Of the 1,500 missing or stolen items, 351 items have already been returned and more than 300 further items have been identified.
More than a third of the published recommendations are already under way or completed, the British Museum said, including a plan to complete the documentation and digitisation of the entire collection within the next five years.
