A vagrant who broke into 17 churches and caused tens of thousands of pounds damage has been jailed.
Mihaita Rosca smashed his way into most of the churches by throwing rocks through stained glass windows and once inside he ransacked them looking for money or computers.
He travelled around Britain carrying out his burglaries, choosing churches because they were easy targets which he knew would be empty at night.
Rosca paid for an extended summer holiday by stealing cash from collection and charity boxes and selling off the other items he stole.
He started his crime wave in Weymouth, Dorset, then moved to Devon, where he struck in Sidmouth, Exmouth, Exeter, Tavistock, Newton Abbot and Teignmouth.
He then moved to Suffolk, where he raided churches at Henstead, Beccles and Ipswich before raiding three more churches in London, including one where he used a rope to scale a wall to reach a courtyard.
He was caught because he left DNA or fingerprints and after his arrest he gave police ‘treasure map’-style directions to find a buried hoard of loot in a field off School Way in Okehampton.
Romanian-born Rosca, aged 26, whose last address was in Swindon, admitted 13 burglaries in Devon and Dorset and asked for three more in East Anglia and four in London to be taken into consideration.
He was jailed for two years by Recorder Mr James Freeman at Exeter Crown Court.
He told him: ‘You had nowhere to go in this country and no money so you chose to break into churches. These are places which are left with nobody in overnight and rely very much on voluntary staff to keep them running.
‘They are operated on a shoestring and are obviously vulnerable to people like you. The damage done and property stolen run into thousands and thousands.
‘The means of entry was not very professional and you caused a disproportionate amount of damage. The premises were ransacked while you were inside. You targeted churches and small businesses.’
Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said the break-ins happened at churches all over Devon and at a cafe and a golf centre in Teignmouth in June and July last year. He moved on to Suffolk in September and London in December.
He used rocks to break stained glass to enter many of the churches, where he smashed open doors to vestries, bell towers and offices looking for things to steal.
Police found candle wax on the floor of one church because he had lit candles so he could search for things steal. He left DNA on windows, tools he used to force open doors, and mugs which he used to help himself to tea and coffee.
Miss Bolt said: ‘We say that greater harm was caused by these burglaries because of the ransacking and the significant damage that was caused. The churches were seen as easy targets.’
Rosca raided St Andrew’s Church in Ashburton on July 3, 2017, by breaking in through a stained glass window. He forced open cupboard doors and a cash box and stole around £20. The damage was £2,520.
His DNA was found on a piece of metal he used to lever open the door and his fingerprint was found on a flower vase.
All Saints’ Church in Newton Abbot was burgled two nights later and a dog walker spotted the damage and alerted the police the next day.
Rosca had ripped off a grille from a window and used it to smash his way in. He stole £40 cash but did £500 damage, some of it to a vestry door which he tried to break down with a candlestick, which police found embedded in it.
He was traced by DNA from the security grille.
The raid on St Michael’s Church in Teignmouth followed shortly afterwards. Rosca broke in by removing a window from the roof from the boiler room.
A collection box was opened and envelopes containing cash were stolen along with a £395 iPad. A cupboard was forced and internal doors smashed, causing £2,775 damage.
Rosca broke into the Beachcomber Cafe on July 15 by breaking a window and stole £4,126 cash, computers and other items.
The raid on the Adventure Golf centre in Teignmouth followed five days later. He got in through a window and stole staff wages but left a fingerprint on the glass.
Mr Paul Grumbar, defending, said Rosca is Romanian and originally came to Britain three years ago and lived and worked in Swindon.
He went to live with his mother in Italy early last year and when he returned to England he found himself with no money, no friends and no home, and turned to crime.
He said: ‘I asked him why he burgled churches and he said it was because he knew there would be nobody there. There was no method. He was simply stealing to maintain himself.’
The burglaries were at:
June 2017:
St John’s Weymouth, cash stolen, door damaged.
St Michael and All Angels, Dinham Road, Exeter, £700 projector stolen, stained glass damaged.
St Thomas, Exeter, CCTV hard drive stolen, stained glass damaged.
Holy Cross in Crediton, nothing stolen, £1,400 damage to window, internal doors and floor boards.
Methodist Church in Torrington, projector and DVD player worth £400. Glass and internal fittings damage £2,000.
July 2017:
The Catholic Church in Tavistock, cash and relic stolen, value £45, window damaged.
St Andrew’s Church, Ashburton, £20 cash stolen, £2,520 damage to stained glass.
All Saints’, Newton Abbot, £40 cash stolen, £500 damage to stained glass and a door which had a candlestick embedded in it.
St Michael’s Church, Teignmouth, collection box and £395 iPad stolen, £2,775 damage to windows and doors
Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth, cash, wheelchair, monitor, camera, three computers stolen, total value £7,500; stained glass and doors damaged £4,079.
St Giles and St Nicholas, Sidmouth, £200 laptop stolen; stained glass damaged.
Beachcomber Cafe, Teignmouth, £1,700 computers and £4,126 cash stolen.
Adventure Golf, Teignmouth, staff wages and £2,400 computers or phones stolen.
September 2017.
St Mary’s Henstead, Suffolk.
Whitton Church, Ipswich.
St Michaels, New Market, Beccles.
December 2017 - Jan 2018.
St Pancras Old Church.
St Mary’s Neasden.
St Mary’s West Drayton.
Daphna Estates, NW 10.