Earby church vandals apologise for damage (From Craven Herald)

Earby church vandals apologise for damage

5:00pm Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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Three teenagers who vandalised an Earby church have apologised for their actions.

In a youth court last year, the teens admitted smashing windows at All Saints Church in September, causing £15,000 worth of damage.

They also pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to cause damage at the former vicarage next to the church.

As part of their punishment, three of the four teenagers involved agreed to attend a meeting with church members as part of a restorative justice order, which allows offenders to make amends directly to the people or organisations they have harmed.

Restorative justice co-ordinator Christine Taylor said: “Everyone sat together and the members of the church were given the chance to ask questions and impress upon the teenagers the financial and emotional impact their actions had caused.

“The youths saw photographs of the damage to the church and saw the scaffolding that was up replacing the broken windows and could clearly see the gravity of their actions.”

One of the youths said: “Going back to the church made me really understand what we had done and it made me feel really bad.

“The people from the church were nice to us and we were able to say sorry for what we had done.”

Another youth said: “I realised that what we did was wrong and how upset we had made people. I will never do something like this again.”

The meeting facilitator, PC Karl Pickles, said the youths had responded well and apologised for what they had done.

“Their parents were also given the chance to speak and said how ashamed they had been by the incident,” she said.

One parent said: “I was really apprehensive about the meeting as I expected the members of the church to be very angry, but they were really forgiving and I was glad the children had a chance to say sorry and give something back to the church.”

Churchwarden Vera Cocker said the meeting had been a success.

“We were able to get our issues off our chest and put what happened behind us.

“We just want to draw a line under what has happened and hope that the children have learnt their lesson and will behave better in future,” she said.

Mrs Stott said two of the teenagers would now continue with the restorative justice programme by undertaking voluntary work at the church.

She added that the window repairs were coming along nicely.

“The cathedral windows are repaired and put back in place and the (stained glass) Trinity window is well on its way,” said Mrs Stott. “It has been sent to Germany to get some of the smaller windows replaced. We’re hoping to have it done after Easter.”

She said that would be just in time for a farewell visit by the retiring Bishop of Bradford, the Right Rev David James, who is due to re-dedicate the new window.