Man jailed for theft of medieval panels from Devon church

Christopher Cooper, aged 48 from Trallong, Brecon has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison following thefts from churches throughout England and Wales.

Christopher Cooper appeared at Hereford Crown Court last Friday (6 May 2016) where he admitted to 37 thefts from churches, dealing in tainted cultural items and fraud. The sentencing has made West Mercia Police one of the first forces in the country to secure a conviction of dealing in tainted cultural items.

The investigation began in 2013 after a man in Kent was arrested for purchasing a gorilla's head in the post. As a result of a subsequent search, a number of church items were found that were believed to have been stolen from the Herefordshire area. The buyer stated that he had purchased the items online from a man in Herefordshire.

The Metropolitan Police antiquities team advised West Mercia Police of the recovery, and investigative work was carried out to locate the offender and to try and restore some of the stolen items to victims.

As part of the invesitgation, an arrest warrant was carried out in January 2015 and Christopher Cooper was arrested. A large number of stolen items including statues and paintings were recovered during the warrant, and a book was also found at the address which contained a list of churches and codes.

To try and return some of the recovered items to their rightful owners, officers appeared on BBC's The One Show and the Crimewatch Roadshow in June last year, which assisted in returning all but three of the stolen items.

Although Cooper's offending was mainly throughout Herefordshire, offences also took place in North Wales, Warwick, Malvern, Evesham, Cirencester, Kent, Sussex, Essex and Swindon. He was later found to be responsible for the theft of two priceless 15th century oak panels from Holy Trinity church at Torbryan, near Ipplepen, and first edition King James bibles were also stolen from churches across Wales and replaced with modern editions.

Cooper also created articles and passed them off as antiques and defaced ancient relics. These items included statues, stained glass, stone coffins, crosses, font plugs and ancient bibles.

At Friday's sentencing, Cooper was sentenced to three years in prison for each of seven charges of theft and three years for dealing in tainted antiquities to run concurrently. He was also sentenced to eight months imprisonment for two counts of fraud. He asked for thirty other offences to be taken into consideration.

He was also issued with a POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act) order, which means he will have to repay an amount of money if he is able to do so.

Temporary Inspector Andrew Bennett from West Mercia Police said "Churches are by their very nature an open place of worship, and sadly in this instance, they were vulnerable to Cooper's offences.

"The people who manage and worship at the affected churches are also victims, and whole communities have been affected by his actions.

"Christopher Cooper is one of the most prolific church thieves that we have seen in this country for some time, and I'd like to thank all of the officers involved in the investigation for their hard work and determination in bringing this offender to justice."