Contents
- Home
- Synod reports
- News
- Bridgend churches face dilemma over suicides
- Williams ‘false’ says Church Society
- Bookmaker offers bets on Canterbury
- Tribunal rules that unnamed organist was an employee
- GAFCON moves to Jordan after row
- Kobia quits after CV query
- Nobel Peace Prize laureates sign letter criticising China
- Vociferous
- Williams’s Windsor-report group forms
- Vatican makes plea for ‘moderation’ in Kosovo
- Evangelicals urged to challenge society
- Fatal instruction
- Guide gives advice on sex workers
- WCC marks its birthday with plea for democracy
- New scheme for debtors
- Illuminating
- News in brief
- Back TAP for true pastors
- Bombers wreck Gaza YMCA
- Dismay as Leeds Baptist deported
- Police beat up Harare women
- Philippines: nuns help man escape
- Uganda squashes rumours that it wants to secede
- Threatened
- Jensen support for stay-away plan
- Foreign news in brief
- Employment laws broken by church projects, says CUF
- Lourdes in Westminster
- Fifty years on
- ‘Few benefit from faith links’
- Dr Sentamu’s roof: man charged with stealing lead
- Oxford gets £2-million grant to search for belief in God
- Taking cover
- Question of the week
- Comment
- Letters
- Real Life
- Features
- Faith
- Humour and crossword
- Pastimes
- Books
- Arts
- Media
- Gazette
 back to News |
 previous story
|
next story 
|
Dr Sentamu’s roof: man charged with stealing lead
by Nigel Burnham
%235%23.jpg) | A MAN has appeared in court after the attempted theft of lead from the official residence of the Archbishop of York, Bishopthorpe Palace. Christopher Walker, 26, appeared at York Magistrates Court charged with four offences of handling stolen goods, resisting arrest, and possession of drugs. Mr Walker pleaded guilty to all charges and was remanded in custody. He will reappear on 29 February. An eyewitness alerted police after spotting two men removing lead from the roof of the palace on 2 January. Mr Walker was arrested shortly afterwards. A North Yorkshire police spokesman said: “Officers arrived on the scene within minutes and gave chase as the suspects fled. One of them, a 26-year-old local man, was arrested along the river path near the crematorium. The other managed to evade capture, and is still being sought by the police. “He is described as white, aged 30 to 40, with dark hair and wearing a dark-coloured jacket.” |
| The cost of thefts from parish churches reached £8.7 million last year. Sir Stuart Bell, the Second Church Estates Commissioner, said the leading church insurer had seen claims increase from £1.5 million in 2005 to £8.7 million last year. Anne McIntosh, MP for the Vale of York, said: “This is the most despicable of crimes, robbing the whole community of the value of one of its most sacred meeting places. “The costs of replacing these stolen items, such as the lead from the church roofs, together with the increase insurance premiums are staggering.” Congregational and General Insurance, of Bradford, which has seen claims related to church lead theft rise 86 per cent in the past year, is urging drastic action. It has launched a dedicated campaign, in consultation with Crimestoppers, to ensure churches are doing all they can to protect themselves. |
