William Jacques

William Simon Jacques (born March 1969), nicknamed the "Tome Raider" by the media, is a serial book thief who has been twice convicted after stealing hundreds of rare books worth over £1 million from libraries in the UK. He was jailed in May 2002 for four years, and again in July 2010 for three and a half years.

Personal life Jacques is the son of a farmer from Cliffe, Selby, North Yorkshire. He studied at the University of Cambridge from October 1987 to 1990, gaining a 2:1 degree in economics from Jesus College, and he is a former chartered accountant who worked with Shell UK. He lived alone in a bed sit in Maida Vale. At his second trial, his lawyer said he was by then an odd-job man who relied on the charity of friends.

First trial In February 2001 he was charged with 19 counts of theft. After five weeks he was found guilty and jailed. He twice appealed without success. A second trial on two further counts would have taken place in April 2002, but he pleaded guilty. Twelve more charges were left on file. He was jailed at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court by Judge Derek Inman on 23 May 2002, and ordered to pay £310,000 in compensation.

He began stealing books from the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in Pimlico under the name Victor Santoro some time after June 2004, when an inventory was last taken. On being searched a list of seventy titles that he had stolen or intended to steal was discovered, which included works by Charles Darwin and Edward Lear. He denied stealing books, saying "I don't know nothing about this. Do you have any evidence for this?" He refused to answer questions or give his name.

Second trial Jacques appeared at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 31 December 2009, Jacques claimed that he was using the books for research purposes and was using a false name due to his prior conviction. After five hours and forty minutes, the jury convicted Jacques 11-1 on 22 June 2010 of theft of the books and going equipped to commit theft with a Senate House library card. His lawyer acknowledged that he showed no remorse, but argued in mitigation that his reputation had been destroyed by his first conviction. He was jailed by Michael Holland QC on 20 July for three-and-a-half years.

Books taken in second case Between June 2004 and March 2007 Jacques took thirteen volumes of Nouvelle Iconographie des Camellias by nineteenth-century Belgian author Ambroise Verschaffelt, worth £40,000. Jacques did not reveal his latest address and may have kept books at an unknown location. Confiscation proceedings to recover the books were due to take place in January 2011.

Impact

Cambridge University Library doubted that Jacques had taken the items himself and suspected a member of staff did. At both Cambridge and London Library, CCTV was introduced and security passes now must be shown. After his 2002 conviction, Jacques was banned from all UK libraries. The Lindley Library says it has improved security and now requires proof of identity. The judge sentencing Jacques in 2010 said that"The effect of your criminality was to undermine and destroy parts of the cultural heritage that's contained within these libraries and make it more difficult for those who have a legitimate interest in these books to gain access to them because libraries have to take inconvenient and expensive steps to stop thefts of this kind."