Book dealer cleared of selling stolen 'extraordinarily rare' €2,000 Seamus Heaney first editions

Irish Examiner

09-06-2025

A book dealer who claimed he bought two missing and "extraordinarily rare" Seamus Heaney first editions worth €2,000 at a bric-a-brac stall has walked free from court.
Alan Ladak, aged 70, of Fahy Gardens, Loughrea, Co Galway, admitted he was reckless in buying the books for about €40 each, hoping to sell them for a profit.
However, he pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court to possessing stolen property, two books by the Nobel Prize-winning Derry poet, The Tollund Man, worth €1,250 and Shivers valued at €750 last year. The books previously disappeared from Kenny's Books in Galway.
However, they were located after Mr Ladak later went to sell them to the Temple Bar Bookshop in Dublin between May 1 and June 30 and on October 6, 2024.
Granting a dismissal, Judge Adrian Harris accepted legal submissions from defence counsel Aoife Mutch, which focused on the lack of evidence presented in court, as the two books, after being returned, were re-sold before the trial.
Case background
Garda Alan Cawley questioned Mr Ladak, originally from England, who brought Shivers to the Temple Bar Bookshop on October 6 and returned four days later to complete the sale.
During the interview, Mr Ladak maintained that he had previously sold WB Yeats and Samuel Beckett books three or four times to the shop. His statement recorded that he was offered €200 for Shivers on October 6. In his interview, he recalled selling The Tollund Man for €250 from May to June, the court heard.
However, the pensioner maintained that he bought each edition for about €40 from an anonymous bric-a-brac stall in the centre of Galway city. He denied knowing they were stolen, but he agreed he had been reckless and was not diligent in establishing where the books came from, the court heard.
Mr Ladak admitted in his interview: "I thought they were cheap at the time, and I hoped to make money." He said it was difficult to say what they were worth, and he hoped to make €200 for each edition.
Asked why he came to Dublin to sell them, he told the garda that he had free travel, and it was a day out, and there were more shops there. He thought it had been about 10 years since he had gone to Kenny's Bookshop, which had moved to a new location.
Witness testimonies
In cross-examination, Ms Mutch questioned the garda about whether he had made enquiries in Galway into the unnamed bric-a-brac stall mentioned by her client. He replied that he did not because Mr Ladak did not have a receipt, and he did not think he could find the stall.
The stolen books had since been returned to Kenny's Bookshop and were sold. The garda agreed he did not have the actual originals in court.
The second witness, Tomás Kenny, of Kenny's Bookshop, recalled being contacted by Temple Bar books about the edition Mr Ladak had brought into them.
Mr Kenny said only 125 copies were printed. He described that edition as "extraordinarily rare", having been signed to poet Gerard Fanning, and he added that publisher Peter Fallon had autographed the other book. They had previously gone missing from his bookstore.
In defence submission, the defence barrister highlighted the use of hearsay evidence in the running of the prosecution case, which, she argued, affected her client's right to a fair trial.
She stressed that the books had not been brought to the hearing and seemed to now be in other people's hands, and the photocopy images of the books, tendered as evidence, did not show the inscriptions described by Mr Kenny.
Judge Harris accepted the points raised by the barrister and acquitted Mr Ladak, who was not required to testify during the hearing. He was also found not guilty of unlawful possession of a knife he had on the date of his arrest.