Donald Parfitt, 44, was ordered by a judge to do 180 hours community service and had to pay £55 costs for taking the copy of Order of the Phoenix.

The judge said he had thought about a jail sentence but didn't use it, because Parfitt admitted he'd done it, was sorry and did it on the spur of the moment.

He worked at the printers where the book was being made, and Parfitt said that he found some pages in the car park.

He then picked them up, put them in his lunch box and tried to sell them to The Sun newspaper for £25,000 but they told the police.