Crime wave engulfing our beloved churches
RELIGIOUS leaders have called for tougher sentences to combat criminals targeting churches.
Gangs are stealing metal from rooftops and church flagstones, with thefts on the rise.
Now Dame Caroline Spelman, who as Church Estates Commissioner speaks for the Church of England in the House of Commons, has called for action to halt the crimewave.
Dame Caroline said: “Due to the highly mobile nature of this form of organised criminal activity and without increased resource, it is hard to see how police and heritage crime officers will be able to address the increase in thefts we are seeing across the country.
“Thefts are moving gradually west and north along the major transport routes. This year, the Church has had the first reports of metal and stone theft in the Bath and Wells Diocese and in the Yorkshire Dioceses.
“Tightening up of the law, therefore, needs to be accompanied by increased police resources and greater political will.”
She added: “Aside from the financial impact of these thefts, the impact on communities is significant.
“The social and community impact of the crime, as well as the criminal damage to listed buildings, needs to be addressed at sentencing, as even the theft of small amounts of lead or stone has a huge impact on local people.
“These buildings represent our country’s heritage.
“Due to the highly mobile nature of criminal gangs, it is essential that police and local churches work together to ensure that heritage crime does not become a decreasing local and national priority for police forces.” Data on such thefts is held by police forces, Historic England and the insurance industry, as opposed to the Church of England, it has been revealed.
Rising metal prices have led gangs to make it their prime target and it has now become one of the fastest-growing crimes globally.
Offences in Britain soared by 25 per cent in the year ending March 2018, compared with the previous year.
Figures released in the summer by VPS Security, which protects scores of sites in Britain, found reports of lead being stripped from church roofs in the year up to April were averaging 37 a month. In one dramatic case, the entire roof was taken from All Saints Church in Houghton Conquest, Bedfordshire, in October last year.
It would have netted the thieves in the region of £25,000 but the church was left with a £400,000 bill to replace it.
It has led to a Memorandum of Understanding being signed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Crown Prosecution Service, Historic England and local authorities.
The agreement means all bodies will work together to stamp out the problem.
Dame Caroline added: “The Church of England is an active partner in identifying and tackling heritage crime.”
‘The buildings represent our national heritage’