14-Dec-09 2:00 PM CST

Cotswolds Auctioneer Illegally Flogs Rhino Horn

A Gloucestershire auctioneer stole a client's rhino horn and sold it for about £5,000 to be turned into Chinese aphrodisiacs in the Far East.

Christine Kulpa, from Cheltenham, took an assortment of property including the horn to Christopher Surfleet to be auctioned on her behalf, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

But the 35-year-old abused her trust by selling the rare item to the Far East and thereby supporting the unlawful trade in endangered species of rhino.

Prosecutor Julian Kesner said as a result of Surfleet's offence he has now been blacklisted in his profession and will never be able to work as an auctioneer again.

Judge Hart told him: "You were a professional man in your early 30s with no doubt a career ahead of you in your chosen profession.

"You have thrown all that away by a moment of dishonest folly. You breached the trust of your customer."

Surfleet, living in Cirencester at the time, but who now lives at Gordon Lane, Chester, admitted stealing the horn from Mrs Kulpa between October 31, 2007 and January 1, 2009.

He was sentenced to 27 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Judge William Hart also ordered him to pay £2,500 compensation to Mrs Kulpa and £250 costs.

Surfleet was working as a senior auctioneer for Moore Allen and Innocent of Cirencester from 2005 until March 2009, when Mrs Kulpa approached him.

Mr Kesner said: "One of the items was the unmarked rhino horn. The importance of it being unmarked was that there is a prohibition on it being sold.

"The auction house kept it for a long time because there was going to be a possible change of the law and during 2008 Mrs Kulpa phoned every couple of months to ask what the position was. She was effectively fobbed off by the defendant who said they would keep it because they might be able to sell it.

"During one conversation the defendant said he had found someone he could pass it on to but she would be lucky if she would get £200 for it. That is a tiny fraction of the £5,000 it is worth and for which it was actually sold on the black market."

Mr Kesner referred the court to a statement from a scientific adviser to the Joint Nature Conservation Committee which said all rhinoceros species are close to extinction and there is a ban on international trading in horns.

"Rhino horns that end up in the Far East, as night follows day, ends up being used in Chinese medicines," said Mr Kesner.

"We know this one ended up in the Far East."

It was when Surfleet left the auction house earlier this year the offence came to light when Mrs Kulpa wrote asking what had happened about the horn, he said.

"She asked for it back. The auction house thought it had already been returned to her. That is effectively when the balloon went up for the defendant."

Richard Thomas, defending, said his client had been working in the auctioneer trade for 17 years since leaving school.

"As a result of this, he has effectively been blackballed in the trade. It is a small group of people around the country and everyone knows everyone else," he said.

"His employers have naturally told the other auctioneers around the country what he has done and it is now impossible for him to get any employment in that field in future.

"He has been unemployed since March and has had to move out of this area. He has in effect ruined his life."

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