A Co Dublin man has been jailed for three years for robbery of €2,540 (£2,000) from a church sacristy. Gardaí found the sacristy covered in blood after the sacristan was hit over the head with a plank.
Darren Wallace (28), Rush, pleaded guilty to robbery of €2,540 from the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall, on October 14th, 2000.
Garda Joseph Kiely told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that there were two safes in the sacristy, one for the plate collection and weekly envelopes and a larger one for donations of a higher amount. The safes held over €2,500, mostly in coins. The sacristan, Mr Jim Soden, was forced into the sacristy by two men when he went to lock the church.
A co-accused of Wallace had a wooden plank and hit Mr Soden over the head several times. Wallace tried to persuade his accomplice to leave as he was looking for notes rather than coins. Instead, the second man took the money along with keys to a car and Mr Soden's wallet. They tried to lock Mr Soden in a safe.
Garda Kiely said people noticed the men carrying a heavy bag. Some coins spilled out and the men stopped to pick them up.