Fraudster rues Nazi cup 'curse'

A fraudster who stole hundreds of pounds from a friend has blamed his crime on a Nazi chalice he was given.

Derick Smith, 58, of Stanley, County Durham, forged Lesley Shaw's cheques after promising to use the chalice as a bank guarantee to start a business.

He was fined after admitting fraud at Newcastle Crown Court.

The former show jumper is now blaming the silver cup, which was looted from Herman Goering's mansion in 1945, for a string of misfortunes.

The chalice, inscribed with Goering's name and said to be worth £2m, was taken from the Luftwaffe chief's Karin Hall Lodge home in East Prussia by Sunderland soldier Private George Armstrong.

The private, who served with the Royal Signals, carried it away in his backpack after finding it among other treasures at the lodge.

Smith was given the chalice 32 years ago when the soldier died.

The court heard how in May last year he cashed forged cheques he had torn from the back of Mrs Shaw's chequebook.

The South Tyneside businesswoman had taken him in as a lodger when his marriage ended in 2007 and they had talked of forming a business together.

She became suspicious and realised money was missing when Smith went missing in her van.

In March 2002, he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for blackmail after kidnapping a former friend's boxer dog when she refused to return the chalice, claiming it had been given to her in payment of a £40,000 debt.

Speaking after the hearing on Monday, Smith claimed the chalice was to blame for his troubles.

He said: "Every time it seems to raise its head I end up in trouble.

"One day I'll sell it. I'm happy for it to remain locked away in a bank vault until then."

He was fined £200 and ordered to pay £335 compensation.