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Nizam slipper thief escapes jail
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NewsByte on 06 June, 2008 03:19:44
 
Toronto, June 6: A man who stole rare 18th-century slippers once worn by Nizam
of Hyderabad from Bata Museum here over two years ago, only to return them later
after the case grabbed national headlines, has escaped jail term.
Canada’s Provincial Court judge Bonnie Croll sentenced Miko Petric, 35, to
18-months’ community service under conditions, observing that the theft of the
royal slippers was "senseless", "stupid" and a juvenile impulsive act. "I am
satisfied it was a one-off," she said. Crafted from gold thread in the early
1800s — the gem-encrusted slippers were insured at $160,000 but were
considered priceless. In court, Petric had apologised for his actions saying "I
did a stupid thing." Under the Canadian law, when a term of imprisonment is less
than two years for an offence, a judge can order conditional sentence to be
served in community. Defence lawyer Michael McLachlan said, "This is a sentence
that could have been predicted knowing all we do about the underlying factorial
circumstances of this rather stupid and impetuous theft." The prosecution had
been seeking jail time for Petric, originally from Montenegro.
On January 22, 2006, the shoes, a gold toe ring and an anklet went missing from
a heavy glass case at the museum, founded Czech shoe magnate ‘Thomas Bata’
and home to around 10,000 shoes.
Pleas were made through the media which was followed by speculation about the
potential role of organised crime. The Bata family offered a $25,000 reward.
However, in February 2006 a photo shop recognised images of the stolen slippers
in photos a customer had brought in to print, and released the images to police.
What unfolded was straight out of a novel, complete with mysterious phone calls
and the shoes were dropped off in a church parking lot. —PTI