Dear Colleagues,
On 15th January, our Reading Room here was visited by a known bookthief
(I emailed the list on 16th February: subject heading 'WARNING: book
thief active'). We escorted him out immediately, reported to the police
and thought this to be the end of it.
However, today (same date, following month), he revisited, this time
trying to access a different part of the building. He was escorted out
by another colleague and we again contacted the police.
South Kensington librarians should be particularly alert as he is
obviously quite happy to make multiple attempts in this area.
He was in our building within the last hour or so.
Quote from my previous email:
"To help you identify him, we found that he:.
- marched straight in without engaging with staff
- headed for doors marked clearly 'No entry', even though he was being
watched by staff
- looked decidedly non-plussed at reaching security doors with punch-pad
only access (classic, puzzled, index finger on lips stance)
- had tried at least one (firmly locked) security door before staff
member reached him
- kept his head down (no eye contact) when approached by staff member
(muttered about 'Looking for a toilet' - he had passed a clearly signed
door before entering Reading Room)
- kept his head down when passing through doorways (presumably to try
and avoid any security cameras)
- physically, has quite a long face; and quite noticeably sunken eyes
with dark shadows underneath - this latter doesn't show on [the security
photos taken at another site and passed on to us by a contact], but very
noticeable in life)
- he wore a dark blouson jacket very reminiscent of the one on the
[afore-mentioned photos]; we believe a dark khaki-type colour
- he carried a black, woven fabric attache case with zip (reminiscent of
a slim laptop bag)
- we don't remember him wearing the glasses shown in the photos.
Case No. 6418549/06; c/o DC Huggins, West End Central Police Station CID
section ( Saville Row) : contact tel. 020 7321 8873"
You'll find he becomes very twitchy and sweaty when you mention signing
in, having his photograph taken etc - and will probably make some excuse
to leave 'and come back later', as he did here this today.
I can't include the security photos mentioned above, as jiscmail setup
won't allowed attachments or 'IMAGE/BMP' inserts into the text. If you
have concerns that he has visited you, I can send the 2 photos we have
in a separate message to your own email address.
Our local police officer, Neil Denney (Met Police, Knightsbridge and
Belgravia Ward), visited us after I phoned him today, so you may wish to
contact him for his information, should you have the same thief arriving
at your premises. His direct line is 020 7321 6920.
Hope this helps,
Jan Turner
Deputy Librarian
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
1 Kensington Gore
London
SW7 2AR
t: 020-7591 3044
f: 020-7591 3001
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w: www.rgs.org <http://www.rgs.org/>
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