Last updated at 12:29, Thursday, 19 May 2011

It is a shocking disgrace that a valuable first edition book has been stolen from a charity shop.

How low do you have to be to steal from a charity?

The copy of Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea is valued at around £300.

I’m sure the person who donated the book would have known it was worth a few bob as a first edition and wanted that money to go to a good cause.

Not to line the pocket of some pathetic petty thief.

As shop manager Bob Edwards points out, that money could be used to save lives, to educate or to feed needy people, to provide enough medicine to equip three hospitals.

Instead the book will be sold for a fraction of its value to provide a few extra quid for a no-mark.

This moronically mean theft wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing, it didn’t involve taking it off the shelf and dropping it into a bag or a pocket.

The Oxfam staff at the Cockermouth store knew it was valuable and kept it in a glass case, along with other pricey publications.

So the sneak thief (and possibly mates) had to get the cabinet open, then wait until no one was watching before taking the book.

As Captain Biggles would say: “The blighters! It’s just not cricket!”

Me, I’d use stronger language to describe those responsible, but this is a family paper with some idea of morals.

First published at 11:24, Thursday, 19 May 2011
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk