Boy admits arson attack on church

Date published: 17/03/2008

A 14-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to burning down a 131-year-old listed church in Rochdale.

The youngster used a lighter to ignite a kerosene tank behind the back of St Thomas' CE Church in Newhey, Bolton Crown Court heard.

The Grade II listed church, built as a replica of North Somerset's Holy Trinity Church in Weston-super-Mare, will cost an estimated £5m to repair.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will be sentenced on 14 May.

He was released on conditional bail for pre-sentence reports and warned that he could be detained in a young offenders institution for the arson attack.

Judge Stephen Everett told him: "Don't get your hopes up. Just because I'm adjourning this case it doesn't mean to say custody isn't an option."

Prosecutor Duncan Wilcock said: "The tank was outside the church itself and clearly the tank was in some way damaged and then the kerosene was set on fire which has then caused damage to the church."

The court was told that the roof of the church was extensively damaged and a third of the ground space was also badly affected in the blaze on 21 December 2007.

The church was smoke-damaged throughout and the organ was destroyed too.

A number of headstones in the graveyard were also blackened and cracked as a result of the fire.

Councillor Keith Swift, whose wife June is Church Warden said: "This devastating fire has galvanised not only the Newhey village community, with collections and raffles being held in the Wagon and Horses and Top Bird and fund raising events being planned for the summer months, but also people from far and wide who have loved ones buried in the Church yard. There is a determination to see that St Thomas Church will be restored to its original splendour."

The church is open for guided tours on the first Saturday of every month and regular Sunday services continue at St Thomas' Primary School on Huddersfield Road.