Sectarian thug threatened to murder priest

A MAN threatened to stab a priest and burn down his church after being challenged about a suspected bid to steal handbags, a court heard yesterday.

Prosecutors said William Collins displayed sectarian hostility following the encounter with the clergyman at a chapel in Belfast city centre.

Deferring sentencing, a judge warned the 32-year-old: “If there’s any breach I will give you as much custody as I possibly can.”

Collins, of Parkend Street in Belfast, admitted threats to kill, threats to damage property and criminal damage to a police car.

He had been at St Mary’s Church in Chapel Lane on December 20 last year when a priest asked him to leave amid suspicions of interfering with handbags. Belfast Magistrates Court heard he initially refused, but when told police would be called he declared: “I will f ****** come back and stab you.”

Eventually he did depart after repeating the threat by saying: “I will f ****** kill you.”

Collins was then arrested on January 15 when the priest spotted him back in the church again.

As he was being taken into custody he spat on the windows of a police car and shouted “dirty Fenian b ****** ”.

A prosecution barrister contended that Collins was referring to the clergyman, an aggravating factor of sectarian hostility.

“Later, in interviews, he stated that he would burn down the church when he was released,” counsel added.

Defence lawyer Richard McConkey said his client wanted to apologise for acting in “a completely unacceptable fashion”.

He told the court Collins has spent nearly three months in custody while his partner is struggling to cope alone with their newborn baby during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Following submissions, District Judge Mark Hamill decided to defer sentencing until December. Mr Hamill stressed: “The expectation is, that after eight months, there is no further offending of any sort, particularly in relation to (the priest).”