Men who stole church paving stones worth £100k sentenced

Three men who stole thousands of pounds worth of valuable paving stones from historic churchyards have been jailed.

The thieves targeted eight churches across the North West of England between January and March.

They used stolen vans to move the stones, which were worth about £116,996, to a reclamation yard in Wigan, where they were then sold on.

Jason Perry, 49, Connor Lipinski, 28, and Owen Lipinski, 31, were sentenced at Chester Crown Court.

Perry, of Walshaw Street, Oldham, admitted conspiracy to steal, handling stolen goods, and driving while disqualified and was jailed for four years.

After pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal, Connor Lipinski, of Gale Court, Rochdale, was jailed for three years while Owen Lipinski, of Newark Road, Rochdale, was sentenced to 15 months, suspended for two years.

A church warden at St Mary's Church in Congleton, Cheshire, raised the alarm in March when about 80 or 90 York stone slabs were stolen from the church path, the court heard.

CCTV footage helped police identify two stolen transit vans which led them Perry's home, where they seized his mobile phone.

Officers found WhatsApp messages showing that the men worked together to identify targets in Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

The CPS said the thefts left large sections of paths unusable and significantly damaged the historic sites.

The church warden of All Saints Church in Staffordshire was a key witness in the case but died in September.

His daughter spoke of the sadness her father, who had been warden for 50 years, had felt at the "terrible theft" of the stone flags of the church path he loved.

"It's a shame, of all the funerals that church has seen, Dad's coffin's pall bearers had to struggle to walk along a church path that was broken, uneven, unsightly and unsafe", she said.

Senior crown prosecutor Caroline Ross said the thefts "had a huge financial and emotional impact on the communities" and the "damage was often irreparable".

She said: "These were important buildings, both historically and architecturally. Their importance to their communities cannot be overstated."

The churches affected were:

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]