Thieves wearing devil masks have robbed a priest in Reddish

They broke in to St Joseph's Church and locked him in a cupboard

Author: Nathan MarshPublished 10th Jan 2018

Thieves wearing devil masks have broken into a church in Reddish, locked a priest in a cupboard, and stolen the church charity box.

It happened just after 4am on Tuesday 9th January, when two men broke into St Joseph’s Church on Gorton Road in Reddish.

The two men smashed into the priest's living quarters and forced their way into his bedroom, before threatening him with a screwdriver.

They stole his personal belongings and then forced him to take them to the church donations box.

Once they had been taken there, the men locked him in a cupboard before stealing cash, an Apple iMac, an iPhone and a watch.

Two other priests hid in their rooms after hearing what was going on, and managed to call the police.

The offenders heard the police car and made off down Lingard Street as officers arrived.

The men were both white, one was wearing a red devil mask, gloves and had brown/ginger hair which could also have been a wig. The other man was around 5ft7 tall and wearing a black balaclava and armed with a screwdriver.

"The offenders really are the lowest of the low"

Detective Constable Andrew Budsworth from GMP’s Stockport Borough said: “This was a terrifying robbery where the offenders really are the lowest of the low. They knew that they were intending on stealing money that had been donated to charity.

“The victims were left incredibly shaken by their ordeal and we are doing all that we can to help them through it and get them the justice they deserve.

“We are appealing for anyone who knows who these men could be or saw anyone acting suspiciously in the early hours of Tuesday morning, to get in touch with police as soon as possible.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 0161 856 9970 alternatively call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111