British media outlets are reporting that prosecutors have presented some damning evidence during the opening hours of the trial of William Jacques: "When he was arrested police found a 'thief's shopping list' of more than 70 rare titles from the [Royal Horticultural Society's] library, complete with their shelf references, what condition they were in, and their values on the American market, the jury heard." The list was described as "neatly itemised on several pieces of A4 paper."
Prosecutor Gino Connor said of the list "What was of interest as far as the document was concerned is that the books were listed in sequential order as to where they would be found in the library, which tends to suggest that was a great deal of prior planning as far as this was concerned."
The Daily Mail reports that eight additional titles on the "shopping list" were missing from the library's shelves, although it's not clear whether they've also been stolen (by Jacques or anyone else).
Connor added of the thefts "This was ... a systematic, carefully planned theft, committed by a man who knew precisely what he was doing. He had been an undergraduate at Cambridge when he was younger, he had been a member of the British Library and the London Library in the past, and he had an interest in rare and valuable books. He wasn't a shoplifter in WHSmith."
