Millionaire is suing Cirencester auction house

MILLIONAIRE financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild is demanding that an auction house who unwittingly sold dozens of stolen rare volumes should be brought to book.

Sir Evelyn discovered that a trusted book expert had stolen dozens of rare volumes from his private collection while supposedly cataloguing the collection.

David Slade, 59, was jailed for 28 months in February after admitting stealing books worth more than £230,000 from Sir Evelyn's country estate Ascott in Buckinghamshire over seven years.

Now Sir Evelyn is suing Cirencester based auction house Dominic Winter Book Auctions, where many of the books were sold, for unlimited damages.

See tomorrow's Echo for full story