Four who stole lead from Erpingham and Baconsthorpe churches left communities ‘totally crushed and devastated’ – Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

PUBLISHED: 15:10 20 July 2017 | UPDATED: 16:47 20 July 2017

Erpingham Church.

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Today the men were jailed for a total of 10 years and 10 months for conspiring to steal lead from churches at Erpingham and Baconsthorpe.

Sentencing the four, Recorder Frank Burton QC said stealing lead from churches was not a victimless crime.

He said: Im quite satisfied that there was a degree of sophistication and significant planning. These churches are uninhabited and they are vulnerable.

The damage caused great harm to the architectural richness of the region which is cherished by believers and non-believers.

Robert Balotesco, 38 and Razvan Cracea, 27, were both jailed for three years and one month while Stengatu Ciprian, 25, and Ion Dan, 25, were given two years and four months.

The court heard how the raiders stole lead from St Marys Church in Baconsthorpe, near Holt, on the evening of March 3-4 and again on the evening of April 26-27, causing about 100,000 of damage.

They also struck St Marys at Erpingham on May 9, but fled after an alarm went off. But they returned to the church on May 16, stealing lead and leaving a replacement bill of 10,000-50,000.

The court heard Ciprian and Dan joined the group on May 20, but were still knowingly part of the conspiracy.

The four men, who were travelling in a van, were arrested after a police pursuit near Wisbech. Several other men escaped from the scene.

Mr Burton said members of the church community were left totally crushed and devastated by thefts and doubted their ability to raise enough money to fix the roofs.

All four men, who were based in the Coventry area, pleaded guilty on June 19 to one count of conspiracy to steal lead from churches between March 1 and May 21 this year.

In mitigation, the court heard the men felt genuine remorse for the crimes.

This newspaper has a campaign called Stop The Roof Raiders which aims to raise awareness of this region-wide issue.

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Four who stole lead from Erpingham and Baconsthorpe churches left communities 'totally crushed and devastated' - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press