Codex thief gets 10 years

AN electrician who stole a manuscript described as Europe’s first ever travel guide from Santiago de Compostela cathedral has been jailed for 10 years.

Jose Manuel Fernandez Castiñeiras was found guilty of stealing the priceless religious document, the Codex Calixtinus, this Wednesday (February 18) and given 10 years for theft and money laundering.

In July 2011 the Codex went missing from the cathedral and was found a year later in Mr Castiñeiras’s garage. The former handyman – who had worked at the cathedral for 25 years – admitted to stealing the precious manuscript when it was uncovered at his home by police along with other ancient books from the cathedral and more than €1 million in cash. Mr Castiñeiras was suing the cathedral for wrongful dismissal at the time the Codex disappeared.

A judge sentenced him to 10 years in jail and gave his wife a suspended six-month sentence for colluding in the crime.