The Librarian Did It

A 44-year-old library assistant from Manchester, England, was sentenced Wednesday for the crime of ... stealing books. As The Guardian reported the story:

Norman Buckley, 44, took more than 455 ancient books, posters and other documents while working at Manchester’s Central Library.

He was sentenced on Wednesday to 65 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and told to perform 250 hours of community service. His haul included a 16th-century edition of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer worth £35,000 and a 1654 publication of romantic poet John Donne’s Elegies that he sold for £1,800.

Really: you might well suspect the butler. But the librarian? That’s a whole new plot twist.

The Guardian piece can be found here.