Oliver Fallon, who pleaded guilty last month to thefts from the Scottish Catholic Archive in Edinburgh, has been sentenced to 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay a fine of £16,000. The fine was apparently calculated by (almost) combining the estimated repair costs of £5,000 to the value of the stolen documents which have not been returned, some £12,000.
The Edinburgh News reports that Fallon "has been released from jail in England for similar crimes." The Glasgow Daily Record adds that when he heard the sentence, Fallon "smiled and looked relieved." And who wouldn't?
Meanwhile, in the wake of Fallon's thefts, the Scottish Catholic Archive has made a preliminary agreement to loan the oldest materials in their collection to Aberdeen University for safekeeping and transfer the remainder of the archive to Glasgow, a plan which has drawn opposition from some quarters but which seems eminently reasonable to me considering that the documents are clearly not secure where they are.
Showing posts with label Fallon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fallon. Show all posts
Monday, May 19, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
More on Fallon Thefts
The Scotsman has a more complete report today on the case of Oliver Fallon. It's a bit overwritten (first paragraph: "The documents, stained with the patina of time, evoked incense, candlewax and monks in dark cowels. Sitting on a table at the Scottish Catholic Archives was the forgotten history of the Catholic Church, as well as a pay-day for an opportunistic thief.") but it does provide some good background on the case and some more cautionary tales for librarians and archivists (who shouldn't need any more, for goodness' sake!).
"After requesting access to a range of documents, which were then brought into the reading room, Fallon ripped out pages and hid documents inside his notebook, which he then smuggled out at the end of the day.
As the reading room did not have a member of staff present, the thefts went unnoticed until Fallon admitted the crime to police, after they discovered documents from other archives at his home in London."
... did not have a member of staff present? Seriously? I understand understaffing all too well, but c'mon, leaving people totally unsupervised in a reading room? That's just asking for trouble.
"Once he was caught, Fallon sent a letter apologising and returned £14,325 worth of records. But the damaged documents needed almost £5,000 worth of repairs, while 132 documents were still missing. These are worth £12,000.
His solicitor, John Mulholland, said his client disputed the value of the theft, but admitted Fallon was already serving time in England for similar offences."
The English thefts seem not to have made much of a splash over there, but I'm still hoping to get some details on those.
"After requesting access to a range of documents, which were then brought into the reading room, Fallon ripped out pages and hid documents inside his notebook, which he then smuggled out at the end of the day.
As the reading room did not have a member of staff present, the thefts went unnoticed until Fallon admitted the crime to police, after they discovered documents from other archives at his home in London."
... did not have a member of staff present? Seriously? I understand understaffing all too well, but c'mon, leaving people totally unsupervised in a reading room? That's just asking for trouble.
"Once he was caught, Fallon sent a letter apologising and returned £14,325 worth of records. But the damaged documents needed almost £5,000 worth of repairs, while 132 documents were still missing. These are worth £12,000.
His solicitor, John Mulholland, said his client disputed the value of the theft, but admitted Fallon was already serving time in England for similar offences."
The English thefts seem not to have made much of a splash over there, but I'm still hoping to get some details on those.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Thief Pleads Guilty in Scottish Archive Case
Another thief, this one from across the pond. The BBC reports today that Oliver Fallon, 40, pleaded guilty this week to stealing nearly 300 items (worth £26,400) from the Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh. Fallon reportedly gained access to the materials by telling staff at the facility that he was a post-graduate student.
Fallon, who is from London, made five trips to the Scottish Catholic Archives in July of 2006. Archivists there "only realised he had stolen from them when Fallon was arrested for a similar crime in London and told police he had done the same in Edinburgh."
Sentencing is scheduled for next month. More on the earlier case if I can find it.
Fallon, who is from London, made five trips to the Scottish Catholic Archives in July of 2006. Archivists there "only realised he had stolen from them when Fallon was arrested for a similar crime in London and told police he had done the same in Edinburgh."
Sentencing is scheduled for next month. More on the earlier case if I can find it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)