Wigan vicar intervenes as thief targets historic church

By Matt Pennington
Published 24th Jul 2023, 15:45 BST
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A Wigan vicar confronted a thief attempting to steal a card reader from his historic church.

The Reverend Canon Andrew Holliday, rector of Standish, noticed a man leaving with the device as he approached St Wilfrid’s Church at around 1pm on Tuesday, July 18.

The card reader is used by people wishing to make payments or give donations to the church, which launched a £400,000 fund-raising appeal earlier this year in a bid to carry out restoration work on its landmark spire.

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Andrew Holliday intervened during an attempted theft at St Wilfrid's church, Standish.Andrew Holliday intervened during an attempted theft at St Wilfrid's church, Standish.
Andrew Holliday intervened during an attempted theft at St Wilfrid's church, Standish.

Mr Holliday said: “I noticed that the young adult was walking out of church with the card reader and I asked what he was doing. He replied that he was taking it to get serviced and I said, ‘no you’re not, put it down’. At which point I asked him to put it down rather more forcefully by shouting it out and he ran off.

"I put down what I had in my hands safely in church and then heard a clatter. The card reader is in a stand and that’s why he had a sizeable chunk of equipment. He was after the cash within the donation aspect.”

The attempted theft has been reported to the police and means the church will now be closed between services.

A post on its Facebook page said: “Sadly our church suffered a burglary. As a result, and after consultation with the police, church will no longer be open to the public in between services for the foreseeable future. Our Facebook page will be updated with any information going forward.”