Groom-to-be broke into the church where he was to be married

Philip Lynch, 24, returned to St Michael the Archangel chapel on Finaghy Road North hours after meeting a priest to discuss his wedding.

Sentencing him to five months custody today, a judge said: “This is a mean offence.”

Lynch, of Clooney Road in Londonderry, admitted carrying out the burglary with intent to steal on July 18 this year.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard a man wearing dark clothes and surgical gloves was spotted fleeing from the church as an alarm went off at around 9.30pm.

A caretaker carried out checks and discovered a number of items had been disturbed.

A set of step ladders were erected at the side of the building, leading onto a roof and a damaged first floor window.

Entry to the church is believed to have been gained through that open window.

A Crown lawyer said: “Some wire to CCTV had been tampered with, as if someone had tried to disconnect it.”

Blood discovered on a bracket at the point of entry was forensically matched to Lynch.

He was arrested and initially denied responsibility for the break-in.

“He stated that he remembered being in the church on the date in question as he had just become engaged, and he and his fiancee were speaking with the priest regarding a wedding service,” the prosecutor submitted.

“He stated that he had only been in the vestry of the church, was nowhere else within the church, and there was no reason for his DNA to be anywhere near it other than the pews where they sat.”

There is no suggestion that his fiancee knew anything about the subsequent burglary.

The court heard Lynch has more than 40 previous convictions, including a separate burglary offence for which he received a 12-month suspended prison sentence earlier this year.

Turlough Madden, defending, cited alcohol and drug misuse for his client’s criminal behaviour.

Lynch was homeless at the time he targeted St Michael the Archangel, according to the barrister.

Mr Madden also stressed that nothing was actually stolen from the church.

Imposing a five-month prison term, Deputy District Judge Liam McStay also referred the defendant back to the Crown Court for a potential breach of his earlier suspended sentence.

Mr McStay warned: “It isn’t the end of the matter at this stage, Mr Lynch.”