Jail for lead thief as church faces closure
A ROMANIAN thief has left a medieval church in Norfolk at risk of closure after stripping its roof of lead.
Remus Tudorache, 27, was jailed on Friday after helping to run two gangs which plundered lead from rural churches. Tudorache was jailed for five years and one month after admitting carrying out a series of lead thefts in 2015.
He was also part of another church raid gang, the court heard. The thieves were operating this year until police caught four of them near Wisbech, Cambs.
St Mary’s Church at Baconsthorpe, Norfolk, was targeted twice by Tudorache. His gang ripped lead worth £100,000 from its roof after
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the small band of parishioners had spent years raising £120,000 for restoration.
Corinne Youngs, secretary of Baconsthorpe Parochial Church Council, said the blow had left the 13thcentury church community “crushed and devastated”.
Hilary O’Keefe, prosecuting, said the criminals initially targeted St Mary’s at Narford, All Saints at East Barsham and St Mary’s in East Bradenham, all Norfolk. They then went for Erpingham and Baconsthorpe churches in north Norfolk.
Judge Maureen Bacon asked that her sentencing remarks be sent to the Home Office so Tudorache might be sent back to Romania after his sentence.