Crimewave engulfs UK churches with 19 offences each day
A CRIME is committed in a church minutes or in Britain, graveyard is c shocking every in new 70 figures reveal.
Theft, arson and drug trafficking are among t he 19,493 crimes recorded on church property in the UK since January 2017 – a rate of 19 a day nationwide.
In total, the range of crimes being committed on church property includes 2,490 cases of violence, 4,162 of criminal damage and 7,206 thefts, according to figures released by 40 of the 45 UK police forces.
Numerous thefts from churches i ncluded silverware i tems, oil stocks, public address systems and war medals f r om a veterans’ memorial.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance which provided the statistics – gained under Freedom of Information laws – said: ‘These figures paint a bleak picture of criminal attacks on our churches and religious buildings.’
The new f i gures come j ust days after Sussex Police revealed they were investigating reports that a woman in her 50s was raped in a graveyard by a man who sat beside her on a bench. The horrific incident is believed to have happened at dusk by St Andrew’s Church in Hove, East Sussex, on
Thursday evening. Among the most serious incidents revealed in the new figures was an arson attack which ravaged the Grade II listed Church of the Ascension in Manchester in February 2017.
South Yorkshire Police released some of the most detailed figures on church crimes, which included cases of drug-trafficking, harassment and drug possession, as well as one example of ‘exposure and voyeurism’.
A case of illegal sexual activity with a child under the age of 13 was recorded in South Yorkshire in 2018, with nine further instances of sex assault on a female 13 or over.
Malicious communications, possession of an article with a blade or point and arson endangering life were among the other crimes recorded in the region, while there were five cases of weapons possession in West Yorkshire.
The f i gures al so reveal t he scale of lead thefts from church roofs across the country, with 940 cases listed by police since January 2017.
These included the removal of the entire roof, weighing 20 tons, from the Grade I listed Church of All Saints at Houghton Conquest in Bedfordshire in October 2018.
In August, the National Crime Agency warned that, after a decade of decline, rising demand had ‘made metal theft one of the fastestgrowing crimes globally’.
Mr Metcalf- Fisher added: ‘ As a society, irrespective of faith, we need to be much more vigilant when it comes to watching over churches and places of worship by reporting suspicious activity.
‘It serves as a reminder of the importance of funding and pushing for visible policing, particularly in rural areas where churches are more remote.’
But Becky Clark, the Church of England’s director of churches and cathedrals, told The Mail on Sunday that the Church does not believe its buildings are a particular target for crime more than houses, shops or businesses.
She said: ‘The Church of England alone has about 16,000 church buildings which first and foremost are community buildings.
‘ Our experience is that one of the most effective ways of combating crime is for churches to remain open and welcoming, at the heart of their communities.’
Following the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand in March, the Home Office announced it would double the money available for the Places of Worship Security Funding scheme.
Since the scheme launched in 2016, more than £1.5 million has been awarded for security measures including CCTV, alarms and improved locks at religious buildings vulnerable to attacks.