The Bodleian Library Photo Jon Pratty © Culture24
A London businessman who stole and damaged priceless books at the Bodleian Library and British Library is due to be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court today
Farhad Hakimzadeh, 60, of Rutland Gardens pleaded guilty to 14 offences of theft at Wood Green Crown Court in August this year.
He stole plates and maps from a collection mainly from the 16th, 17th and 18th century with a lesser number of 19th and a few 20th century items.
Most of the material that he tampered with covers the West European engagement with Mesopotamia, Persia and the Mogul empire and western travel and colonisation / exploration.
Detective chief Inspector Dave Cobb, of Camden Police said: “The British Library and the Bodleian Library are relieved that Hakimzadeh has admitted his guilt and brought this matter to a close.
“Hakimzadeh was a member of both libraries and he committed his crimes by looking at books in the library reading rooms and carefully removed books or particular pages from a book.
“It proved extremely difficult for the libraries to detect the absence of these pages as Hakimzadeh took care to select material that only an expert would be able to identify. He chose unique and rare editions and was therefore able to go undetected for some time.
“Following the discovery of damage to one volume, an audit of Hakimzadeh's activities at the libraries revealed the extent of his offending.
“Some of the stolen pages were recovered at his home address but many more have been lost forever."
Dr Kristian Jensen, Head of British and Early Printed Collections at the British Library, said: “The particular illustrations and pages that Hakimzadeh stole are not just valuable in themselves.
"These thefts have struck at the very heart of the British Library's historic collections making their loss and the vandalism that accompanied their theft especially harmful.
"When they make their collections available, libraries require that a bond of trust be honoured between the reader and the institution. In return for gaining access to research material the reader agrees to treat the books he consults with care and respect.
“Under a cover of serious scholarly purpose, Hakimzadeh betrayed the trust. The violation of the collections by Hakimzadeh transcends mere monetary loss; his victims are the researchers of the future who will not be able to consult this material.”
An Oxford University spokesperson said: “We are pleased the criminal case, on which we cooperated closely with the police, has been brought to a close.”
