Posted October 27, 2006.

British Book Thief Escapes Jail Sentence

A library assistant who stole hundreds of rare books to sell on the internet escaped a jail sentence October 25. Norman Buckley, 44, took 455 items while working at the Central Library in Manchester, England, 40 of which he sold online for $20,000, the Associated Press reported October 25. The remainder of the stolen works, which included a 16th- century Chaucer edition and 17th-century editions of the works of poet John Donne and historian William Camden, were recovered at Buckley’shome.

Judge Clement Goldstone handed down a 15-month jail sentence but suspended it because Buckley provided details of the sales to help police recover many of the books. He was also ordered to perform community service. He told Buckley that “the extent of the loss to the city is less than it at first appeared,” since only a fraction of the stolen books had been sold, the London Guardian reported October 25. However, Goldstone said that “Every time you offered a book for sale, you were breaking the trust that had been placed in you.”

Buckley’s lawyer, Denise Fitzpatrick, said her client turned to theft after becoming depressed when his girlfriend left him, claiming, “It was emotional release from the turmoil he found himself in.”

Police were alerted to the thefts by a rare-book dealer who noticed the library’s stamp in a digital photograph of one of the books that Buckley was selling online.

Posted October 27, 2006.