Published:
2:09 PM January 8, 2021
Four men have been jailed for a combined 22 years 7 months for the theft of lead from churches.
- Credit: Archant
Four men have been jailed for a combined 22 years 7 months for the theft of lead from churches across the country - including two in Huntingdonshire villages.
The All Saints Churches in Brington and Offord Cluny were targeted by the group between May 2018 and March 2020.
Tonnes of lead was stripped from a mixture of Grade 1 and Grade 2 - costing 36 churches a combined total of almost £2.1m.
The amount the defendants would have made from scrapping the lead would have been much lower than the cost to the churches.
Gang who ransacked churches in £2m crime spree jailed for 22 years
Their targets included four churches in East Yorkshire
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Four prolific lead thieves who caused damage totalling £2.1m to historic churches have been jailed.
A ROMANIAN gang who stripped lead from ten Somerset church roofs have been jailed for a combined total of more than 20 years. The four men targeted 36 churches across England over two years, costing them a total of £2.1million in damage and repairs during a two-year crime spree. The local churches included St Peter and St Pauls, South Petherton; St Edward King and Martyr, Goathurst; St Mary s, Glastonbury; St Giles , Bradford-on-Tone; St Andrew and St Mary, Pitminster; Holy Cross, Middlezoy; St Mary s, Barrington; St Peter s, Ilton; St Mary s, Chetserblade; and St John the Baptist, Wellington. They also stole lead from churches during night-time attacks in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Suffolk, Leicestershire and Derbyshire.
Gang travelled the country to strip lead from rural churches leaving communities heartbroken
Many are still struggling to find the funds to make the repairs safe
11:41, 7 JAN 2021
Updated
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