TWO men have pleaded guilty to stripping lead from church roofs in Didcot, East Hagbourne and Wantage, and selling it for thousands of pounds.

James Wall, 20, and Aaron Hennessy, 24, appeared before Didcot magistrates charged with stealing the lead on a number of different occasions in December and January.

The pair, both of Beeching Way, Wallingford, pleaded guilty to stealing £5,000 worth of lead from St Andrew’s church in East Hagbourne, lead of an unknown value from All Saints’ church, Didcot, on two separate occasions, and lead worth £6,000 from St Peter and St Paul church, Wantage.

The two men asked for eight other similar offences to be taken into consideration.

John Chappel, prosecuting, told the court that the two men used the same “modus operandi” each time to steal the lead from the churches.

He said: “They got on to church roofs and then used establishments to sell the lead to scrap metal dealers.

“They got on to the roofs, stripped the lead from the old buildings and then sold the lead.

“But they left a wrecking bar on the roof of All Saints’ church and Mr Wall’s fingerprints were on it.

“It is fair to say they caused havoc across the area.

“On one occasion they took a piece of lead from a school roof and it rained over Christmas. The headteacher wanted the court to know the harm and distress they were causing by targeting buildings such as churches and schools.

“There is a metal merchant’s which has £2,500 of receipts and each of these receipts can be tied in to a particular theft.”

David Hicks, defending, said the two men should be given credit for their early guilty pleas.

The case was adjourned and the two men were bailed to appear before Oxford magistrates on Wednesday, March 9.

They were given bail on the condition that they did not visit school or church premises across the Thames Valley, apart from a school attended by a child of one of the defendants.

Rev Karen Beck, vicar of All Saints’ church, told the Herald in December how lead had been taken from the roof above the vestry of the grade-II listed church.

She estimated that lead worth £6,000 was taken and said the theft followed a £60,000 fundraising drive to repair the foundations of the chancel, which was unaffected by the thefts.