[MSN] UK. Lowry robbery couple tell of knife raid ordeal

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Lowry robbery couple tell of knife raid ordeal

Helen Carter
Thursday May 10, 2007
The Guardian

An art collector and his wife who were tied up at knifepoint and robbed 
of almost £2m worth of Lowry paintings have spoken of the ordeal they 
endured, in front of their two-year-old daughter, at the hands of three 
masked robbers.

The raiders burst into Ivan and Louise Aird's home in Cheadle Hulme, 
Cheshire, early last Thursday morning, after Mrs Aird answered the front 
door to a man dressed as a postman. Three men threatened to kill their 
daughter Sabrina unless they handed over their collection of LS Lowry's 
works, including the artist's palette and paintbrushes.

Article continues
One of the stolen works, The Viaduct, worth £700,000, once belonged to 
the actor Alec Guinness.

Mr Aird said yesterday: "These paintings were my own personal collection 
-they're something I've been collecting all my life. It was like a 
pension - something to pass on to my daughter. I think this was well 
planned. I am not interested in the money - I just want the pictures back."

He said the robbers would not be able to sell the pictures, because they 
were so famous. Lowry was a friend of his family and his father, an art 
dealer, used to buy Lowry's works.

Mr Aird said the family now felt very uncomfortable in their own home.

"The people who've done this need to be caught," he said. "They held a 
knife to a two-year-old girl. They shouldn't be out there on the streets."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/