A man from Redbridge Lane East, Ilford, stole lead sheeting from several churches in England. The court decided to hold him responsible for 18 counts of stealing.
Court Order
The Reverend Nicholas Munday expressed his opinion that the incidents had "devastated" the community in a statement that was read in court. "It's been necessary to find large sums of money for the repairs," he added.
According to BBC News, Rev. Munday asserted that churches are stunning examples of listed buildings important to a country's history. Damage has been done to both the interior and exterior due to lead loss.
Two churches attacked were St. Nicholas Church in Walcot, Lincolnshire, and St. Boltoph's Church in Newton, located close. Along with the Church of St. Denys in Kirkby la Thorpe and the Church of St. Andrew at Witham on the Hill, 11 other churches located throughout the Midlands were targeted as part of the robbery.
The jury was informed that the 26-year-old Madalin Gabriel Prundaru expressed sorrow and repentance for his role in the thefts and that he had apologized for his involvement. As mentioned, at that time, he was 19 years old, and his cousin Gigi Lovan Prundaru had requested him to assist with loading lead into a vehicle after he had been laid off from his job at a supermarket.
The court was told that Gigi Prundaru would use Google Earth to locate an appropriate church, and then a group of people would depart London late at night armed to steal the lead from the church. The stolen lead would then be sold.
After a night's work, Mandalin Prundaru was given a wage that ranged from £30 to £50. Moreover, the judge stated that Gigi Prundaru had previously been sentenced to six years and one month in prison for being involved in the robberies and that another individual, Laurentiu Ilie Rebeca, had been sentenced to four years and ten months in prison for thefts.
He also mentioned that a psychiatric examination revealed Madalin Prundaru had issues with her academic performance. "You followed them like a lamb, and you were paid a pittance for what you did," the judge said to Prundaru.
The court heard that Mandalin Prundaru had been carrying an electronic tag for the previous five years, ever since he had been freed on bail in 2018. On Friday, Apr. 28, he appeared in court in Lincoln and was given a community service order of 24 months in addition to 30 days of therapeutic activity.
As per Head Topics, Mandalin Prundaru committed thefts at religious institutions in Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, and Leicestershire. The incidents occurred between May and August of 2016, estimated to have caused a total of £461,000 or around $580,000 of damage.
Stealing Lead Roofs from Churches
According to Farsight, as the number of crimes committed against heritage buildings in the United Kingdom, such as churches and other places of worship, continues to rise across the country, it is abundantly clear that safety is still a primary concern. The stealing of lead from roofs, in particular, is disastrous for companies, estate owners, the diocese, and the people they serve.
The Government of the United Kingdom defines theft of metal related to infrastructure as "the removal of metal that has a direct impact on the functioning of infrastructure and/or the fabric of a building or machinery."
During the past two years, authorities have received reports of a staggering 31,985 thefts involving metal. These numbers, which the ONS published, reveal an alarming rise in metal thefts, particularly from infrastructure. There was a rise of 21%, from 6,884 in the 2018/19 school year to 8313 in the 2019/20 school year.
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