Britain’s prolific book thief jailed

LONDON - A Cambridge graduate who stole over 500 rare books from British libraries worth over a million pounds has been sent to prison.

William Jacques, 41 and hailing from North Yorkshire, Britain, received a three-and-a-half-year jail term from a London court in one case of stealing 13 rare books worth 40,000 pounds (about $61,000) from London’s Lindley Library, the world’s best repository of horticultural works, between 2004 and 2007.

Previously, he had been jailed eight years ago for stealing close to 500 books including first editions of Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius - considered the foundation of modern observational astronomy - to sell to auction houses across Europe. On that occasion, the former tax consultant fled to Cuba before returning to Britain to face his crimes in 2002.

In the current case, Jacques used a false name - Victor Santoro - to visit the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library several times between 2004 and 2007.

For hours on end, he would pose as a loner, perusing the shelves of the Lindley Library in London, admiring their collection of books, journals and art which dates back to 1514. So regular were his visits that the staff soon recognised the quiet but intelligent loner who frequented their hushed corridors.

In 2007, he was spotted carrying a book underneath his jacket. When he repeated it on another occasion, the police were called in. While searching him, they found a paper with a list of 70 titles which they believed he had either stolen or intended to steal in order to sell on.

Next to each title, there was a hand-written note of how much they were worth and whether they included maps or plates, which could be removed and sold separately.

He was arrested and convicted Tuesday.

Passing sentence Tuesday, Recorder Michael Holland QC said: “This was a systematic and carefully planned theft, and you had prepared a target list from your research of books that you thought were worth stealing.

“This was a theft in progress and the list referred to books worth tens of thousands of pounds more. You have absolutely no intention of turning away from what seems to you to be an extremely lucrative and easy crime. You are a Cambridge graduate and should know better.”