A 40-YEAR-OLD man accused of stealing a rare first edition of the first Harry Potter novel denied the charge at magistrates yesterday.
Kevin McGirr told a court he did not take the signed copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, worth nearly £6,000, from a display at an art gallery.
The defendant was alleged to have walked into the Creative Art Gallery in Woodstock, and walked off with the world-famous tome from its stand.
The book is one of just 400 printed before the tales of the boy wizard became a global sensation.
Anne Sawyer-Brandish, prosecuting at Banbury Magistrates’ Court, said: “This is an allegation that comes from October 29, 2010, concerning a limited edition Harry Potter book which was on display at the Creative Art Gallery, in Oxford Road, Woodstock.
“The book was later handed to another person and was then handed into Abingdon Police Station.”
The novel, worth £5,995, belonged to book dealer Adrian Greenwood.
Presiding magistrate Christopher Bates told McGirr, from Oxford Road, Woodstock, to return to the court on April 20, for trial.
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