Barristers told to stop stealing books

BURGLING barristers have been warned to stop stealing books from the Law Library or face increased membership fees.

One €333 volume, which was recently lifted from the library, turned up in a second hand shop in Limerick.

As many as 1,230 items, including a €425 CD-Rom package on District Court rules, have disappeared in recent months.

Among the books which have been defaced by barristers with blades, was one €320 text book which had an entire chapter removed.

Text books have had whole chapters hacked out by lawyers too miserly to purchase their own reference material.

Earlier this year, frustrated staff at the library, which underwent a €1.25 million security upgrade last year, made contact with the Bar Council in a determined bid to stamp out the criminal activity.

The chairman of the Bar Council, Hugh Mohan, has pledged to put a stop to the thievery and vandalism.

He has informed the country’s 1,500 barristers by letter that an embezzlement levy may have to be introduced if the sacking of the Law Library continues.

“If the abuse continues, offending members leave us with no option but to recover the cost of replacing depleted stock, when possible, through an increase in membership fees,” he said.

At present, lawyers pay as much as €8,000 in annual fees for the use of the library and related facilities.