Daily Mail 22rd October 2008
A pensioner has lost a battle for compensation from the police over allegations that they damaged her signed photograph of Adolf Hitler, it was revealed today.
Dorothy Phillips, 77, from Clandown, near Bath, took Avon and Somerset Police to court three times over claims about the ruined photo, which they seized during an investigation connected to her son.
Mrs Phillips valued the photo at £10,000 and believes it faded while it was held at Bath police station as evidence.
During the search of her house in November 2006, officers confiscated the photograph along with some Romanov cufflinks, flags and books on SS members.
Dorothy Phillips lost her battle for compensation after claiming police had ruined her signed photograph of Adolf Hitler
The case was dropped and in January of this year Avon and Somerset Police accepted the search and seizure of property had been illegal and awarded £7,500 compensation to the Phillips family.
But Mrs Phillips was unhappy with the state in which the photograph was returned, claiming it knocked £5,000 of its value and sought compensation at Bristol County Court sitting before Judge Bursell.
She has twice before sought compensation, but was unable to provide evidence proving the depreciation in value.
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The pensioner claimed her prized photo faded while in police care but she lost her case after failing to provide evidence of its depreciation in value
Judge Bursell ordered Mrs Phillips pay a total of £1,716 in costs towards Avon and Somerset Police for bringing the three separate hearings, but he said if she ever found expert evidence of the value of the damage caused to the photo, she would have grounds to appeal.
Avon and Somerset Police did not want to comment today on the case.
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