Librarian jailed for stealing rare books to sell on Amazon
A LIBRARIAN who stole rare books and documents – including one on the Aberfan disaster – and put them up for sale online has been jailed for eight months.
Elizabeth McGregor, 57, was working at Pontypridd Library in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, when it was noticed that books were going missing.
Her employers suspected that McGregor, of Hirwaun, was stealing the books and a police investigation discovered that some were being advertised for sale on her Amazon account.
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard McGregor put the Report Of The Tribunal Of Inquiry Into The Aberfan Disaster on the site for £400.
The report, into the tragedy that claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults in 1966, was later found dumped in a green waste recycling bin outside McGregor’s home.
Hundreds of other stolen books were also recovered from the property, including some with fire damage where she had tried to set them alight.
McGregor later claimed that she had bought the books from various libraries when they were sold as excess stock.
She was convicted of two charges of theft, committed between August 2016 and January 2017, as well as a charge of perverting the course of justice, following a three-day trial.
Judge Richard Twomlow, the Honorary Recorder of Merthyr Tydfil, sentenced McGregor to eight months in prison.
“The items that you stole were of substantial value,” the judge told McGregor, who has no previous convictions.
“They were of historical and cultural value in some cases. There was a high level of inconvenience caused to your employer because they had to instigate an investigation.”