The IHBC has welcomed the crackdown on heritage metal theft as six men have been sentenced after stealing lead from churches across three English counties.
IHBC Projects officer Fional Newton said: ‘The recent conviction is part of Operation Brompton an initiative by Lincolnshire Police to deal with metal theft. And since these arrests, the number of metal thefts from churches in Lincolnshire has dropped from 186 in 2011 to 19 so far this year’.
IHBC Policy Vice Chair Bob Kindred said: ‘With the Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, Richard Crompton, a driving force behind the police side of the original heritage crime initiative, we would encourage all new Police Commissioners to take an equally proactive stance and treat this as a priority.’
BBC writes:
The defendants targeted churches in Lincolnshire as well as Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. Police said the convictions and jail terms were the biggest success in the fight against British heritage crime. The men, all from Lincoln, had earlier been convicted at the city’s Crown court of a number of offences, including conspiracy to steal.
Passing sentence, Judge Michael Heath said the ‘professional, planned offending for financial gain’ imposed a heavy burden on small communities. The thefts have caused serious financial consequences and the impact on these communities must not be underestimated,’ he said.
‘[It is also about] the desecration of sacred places of divine worship. You lot couldn’t care less about those feelings. All you cared about was making money.’
He said the gang used force to cause damage to buildings with cultural and architectural importance, as well as being part of the heritage of the UK.
More details and other arrest are at: LINK
BBC News Item: LINK
