1990s Antiquities Smuggler Dies of Overdose

Jonathan Aden Felix Tokeley-Parry hit national headlines in the 1990s as an antiquities smuggler in the 1990s. He later went on to write an interesting book, justifying his exploits (2006). He has just died in a Devon hospital (Carl Eve, 'Man jailed for smuggling Egyptian treasures dies after overdose' Devon Live, 24 Oct 2025).

A self-proclaimed cavalryman who turned art smuggler in the early 1990s died at a Devon hospital after telling a friend he had overdosed. The inquest into the death of Jonathan Tokeley-Parry was held on October 16 by senior coroner Philip Spinney at Exeter County Hall. Mr Spinney noted that 74-year-old Mr Tokeley-Parry was born in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire and resided at a property in Lower Lookout, Bucks Mills, Bideford. Mr Spinney said the 74-year-old passed away in the early hours of October 9 at North Devon District Hospital. He said Mr Tokeley-Parry was single and a 'retired army officer' at the time of his death. Describing the circumstances of his death, Mr Spinney said Mr Tokeley-Parry messaged a friend on to tell her he had taken an overdose of a household drug. She called 999 and called for an ambulance which attended his home address and took him to North Devon District Hospital. He was immediately admitted to the intensive care unit but despite intervention he sadly died at 2.30am that morning. The medical cause of death was given as an overdose. The hearing was adjourned and a full inquest will take place at a later date.

At the time of his death, Tokeley-Parry had reportedly been working on a new book titled 'Smuggler's Blues'.

In the 1990s, officers from Scotland Yard's arts and antiques squad found that Tokeley-Parry had masterminded a number of trips to Egypt between June 1992 and December 1993 he had organised seven trips after recruiting Mark Perry, 30, an odd-job man, as his 500 pounds -per-trip courier. His house in Barnstable was raided in 1994. Tokeley-Parry, then 46, appeared at Knightsbridge Crown Court in 1997 and was convicted of two counts of smuggling Egyptian artefacts into Britain by disguising them as cheap trinkets and received a six year jail sentence for each of the handling stolen goods charges and a further for obtaining a passport by deception. He only served time in a British prison from 1997 until 2000.

Just days later, Tokeley-Parry was convicted by an Egyptian court in his absence and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour. At the same trial, accomplice Mark Perry and several Egyptians involved in the smuggling ring were also found guilty and sentenced.

Tokely Parry was a witness in the trial "United States v. Frederick Schultz" in which the prominent New York antiquities dealer Mr. Frederic Schultz, former president of the National Association of Dealers in Ancient, Oriental, and Primitive Art, was charged with conspiring to deal in antiquities stolen from Egypt. After some delay the trial began in New York in January 2001. In the trial, Schultz's lawyers argued that their client had bought antiquities in good faith from Tokeley-Parry and was therefore innocent. However, witnesses, including officers of Scotland Yard and the F.B.I. and Tokeley-Parry and his young fiancée, depicted a different situation. They exhibited bank statements and secret-agent like correspondences between the two men that hinted at a less than aboveboard business relationship. Ultimately, the jury agreed with the case set forth by the prosecution. On 16 July 2001, Schultz was indicted on one count of conspiring to receive stolen Egyptian antiquities in violation of the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) - under which it is a crime to deal in property that has been “stolen, unlawfully converted or taken, knowing the same to be stolen”. In February 2002, Schultz was convicted under the NSPA and in June 2002 he was sentenced to a term of 33 months of imprisonment and a fine of $50,000. Schultz appealed the verdict but in June 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction.

Jonathan Tokeley 2006, 'Rescuing the Past: The Cultural Heritage Crusader' Imprint Academic.