[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Sam Jones
[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Friday January 28, 2005
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Guardian

[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]A magistrate who gave a Rolex watch that he found in a supermarket to his wife as a birthday present has been convicted of theft.

Geoffrey Rowlett, 67, picked up the £3,200 lady’s watch three years ago, after its owner lost it in a Tesco store in Poole, Dorset. Rather than hand it in, Mr Rowlett, who has been a magistrate for 30 years, presented it to his wife, Margaret, for her 60th birthday. He also insured it for £3,000.

Almost two years later he took the watch to be repaired. A jeweller put its serial number into a database and found it had been reported lost or stolen in January 2002.

When asked how he had come by the watch, Mr Rowlett, a building surveyor, concocted a bizarre story. He told the jeweller that he had bought the Rolex Oyster for £1,500 from a “bric-a-brac shop” while on his way to a freemason lodge meeting in Portsmouth, but could not provide the name of the shop or a receipt.

In a bid for credibility, Mr Rowlett even hired a private detective to find the premises after the police drew a blank.

Police later proved that Mr Rowlett had visited the Tesco store within two hours of the victim on January 16, 2002 – the day she lost the watch.

He was charged with theft, which he denied, and convicted, following a trial at Southampton magistrates’ court. He was fined £600 pounds and ordered to pay £400 costs. Mr Rowlett has been suspended by Dorset magistrates’ courts. [/font]