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Italian bookseller accused of stealing rare copy of Harry Potter
Italian bookseller guilty of stealing rare copy of Harry Potter
(about 4 hours later)
An Italian bookseller stole a signed first-edition of a Harry Potter book worth £1,675 by switching it with a different novel at a shop in central London, a court has heard.
An Italian bookseller has been convicted of stealing a first edition Harry Potter book, signed by J K Rowling, by switching it with a different novel in a shop in central London.
Rudolf Schonegger, 55, is alleged to have made the swap of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, signed by JK Rowling, at Hatchards in Piccadilly on New Year’s Eve.
Rudolf Schönegger, 55, swapped a signed version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire worth £1,675 with a copy of Late Call, by Angus Wilson, at Hatchards in Piccadilly on New Year’s Eve.
CCTV footage showed a man browsing the shop, before appearing to take the edition off the shelf, replacing it moments later. A copy of Late Call by Angus Wilson was found in its place.
CCTV footage showed him browsing in the bookshop before removing the rare Harry Potter novel from its shelf behind the till while a staff member had her back turned, and replacing it with the Wilson book moments later. The novel had been on display with a sticker stating its value.
A trial at Hendon magistrates court was told Schonegger has already been prosecuted for stealing a rare book from a pop-up store at Fortnum & Mason, just metres down the road from Hatchards, about three hours after the alleged Harry Potter theft.
The collector and seller of rare books, who regularly visits shops in the area, had already been convicted of stealing a rare book from a pop-up store at Fortnum and Mason, just metres away, which occurred about three hours after the Harry Potter theft.
The court heard the defendant was a collector and seller of rare books who regularly visited stores in the area.
On Tuesday, he was also convicted of selling a stolen bound copy of The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, worth £700, and a stolen first edition of Pincher Martin, by William Golding, worth £150. Both sales happened just before Christmas.
Schonegger denies a charge of theft and charges of selling a stolen copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man And the Sea, worth £700, on 21 December 21, and a stolen first edition of William Golding’s Pincher Martin, worth £150, on 21 or 22 December.
Helen Mills, the manager of secondhand books at Hatchards, told the court: “I went to the till on the ground floor and started serving customers. A colleague passed by in a quieter moment when the queue had gone down and said: ‘Oh, have you sold the Harry Potter?’ We had a first edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on sale for £1,675, all the staff knew about it – it would have been a big thing for us to have sold it.
Pincher Martin had been noticed to be missing from the Hatchards store, which has a section for antique books, earlier on 31 December.
“It is rare for it to be signed by JK Rowling because she doesn’t sign too many. I turned around because we kept it behind the till and it wasn’t there – and where it had been was another book.”
The Harry Potter book had been on display with a sticker stating its four-figure value. It had disappeared by mid-afternoon that day.
Security staff were called and footage from the store showed the defendant inquiring about the book shortly after 2pm, and then showed him making the swap. The book has yet to be recovered.
Helen Mills, the manager of second-hand books at the store, told the court: “I went to the till on the ground floor and started serving customers. A colleague passed by in a quieter moment when the queue had gone down and said, ‘Oh, have you sold the Harry Potter?’ We had a first edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on sale for £1,675, all the staff knew about it – it would have been a big thing for us to have sold it.
Schönegger will be sentenced on 3 April at Westminster magistrates court.
“It is rare for it to be signed by JK Rowling because she doesn’t sign too many.”
She added: “I turned around because we kept it behind the till and it wasn’t there and where it had been was another book by Angus Wilson called Late Call.”
Security staff were called. Footage from the store , showed a man said to be the defendant inquiring about the book shortly after 2pm, then showing him making the swap.
The Harry Potter book has yet to be recovered.
Peter Ellis, a bookseller based in central London, bought the copy of Pincher Martin from the defendant for £60, the court was told.
It had a distinctive inscription on the inside which allowed Ellis to identify it as the missing edition.
He told the trial: “He had been in before and sold me one or two books. Mr Schonegger seemed to know about the book, he talked about books, there was nothing to alert me to the fact it wasn’t his to sell.
“Mr Schonegger did speak about personal matters on one occasion, about his own upbringing - he was saying at one point he went to a seminary because his mother thought he should become pope.
“If someone is trying to sell you a stolen book they generally don’t go into that detail.”
