Church cash thief avoids prison

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7284033.stm

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A burglar who stole a church's Sunday offerings of £1,475 has been given a suspended nine-month prison sentence.

Belfast Crown court heard Alan Hanley stole the jar containing the money when he burgled a house on the Craig's Road in Carrickfergus in September 2006.

The homeowner was holding the money for his church.

Hanley, 21, from Elizabeth Avenue, in Carrickfergus, was caught when his fingerprints were found on two cheques made out to the church left in the jar.

He initially told police he could not remember committing the burglary but later pleaded guilty to stealing the cash and a laptop computer, neither of which have been recovered.

Suspending the jail term, Judge Finnegan said it would be better to leave something "hanging over your head".