€200k worth of books stolen

A former librarian who stole hundreds of rare, antique books worth nearly €200,000 from the National Library of Ireland has received a suspended sentence.

Lawyers for John Nulty, aged 37, said that for nine years, he was compulsively taking the books and hoarding them in his home. When gardaí arrived at his Dublin home in April 2013 with a search warrant, they found “an Aladdin’s cave” where Nulty was living surrounded by books.

Nulty, of Portersgate, Clonsilla, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to eight sample counts of theft from a total of 216 charges. Most of the charges relate to theft from the National Library between July 5, 2004 and April 24, 2013.