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British police arrest pair over stolen Harry Potter book
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-04 09:20

British police said they arrested two men in connection with the theft of the next instalment of the adventures of boy wizard Harry Potter, six weeks before its launch.

Police made the arrests after receiving reports of gunfire on a street in the English city of Kettering where reporters from the Sun newspaper had met two men allegedly preparing to sell stolen copies of the new book.

This photo supplied by Scholastic publishers shows the dust jacket cover of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' by J.K. Rowling. One lucky American library is going to be able to cast a spell on its readers by displaying the first American edition of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' signed by J.K. Rowling herself _ it's the top prize in a sweepstakes from Scholastic, the American publisher of the series about the boy wizard.[AP]

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," to be published July 16, has sparked massive interest, with bookmakers offering bets since author JK Rowling announced nine months ago that a character in the series would be killed off.

Spokesmen for the Sun as well as the Daily Mirror newspaper said both had been contacted by someone claiming to have copies of the new book.

Both newspapers said they planned to meet the man in Kettering, Northants, to make sure that the books were returned to the publishers. The Sun reportedly it had actually met him.

A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said they arrested two men after being contacted about the book.

"Two books were recovered and they are currently being held in secure circumstances as evidence," said a spokesman.

Police said later that the two men arrested had both been charged with weapons offenses and with handling the stolen books.

Both were released on police bail until early next week when they will appear before magistrates in Northamptonshire.

A police spokesman said: "We have charged a 37-year-old Kettering man with possession of an offensive weapon and with handling stolen property and a 19-year-old with theft and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence."

"Both have been released on bail," the spokesman said.

Rowling is inviting 70 children from English-speaking nations to join her at Edinburgh Castle July 16 to launch her new book "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth in the series.

About 250 million Harry Potter books have been sold around the world, and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" became one of the fastest-selling books in publishing history in 2003.

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