Vicar Who Disappeared During Trial In Custody

A vicar who fled from court before he was convicted of stealing thousands of pounds has handed himself in to police.

Simon Reynolds failed to return from a lunch break at Sheffield Crown Court on 23 July, shortly before he was found guilty of four counts of theft.

The 50-year-old pocketed more than £24,000 of fees given to him for weddings, funerals and graveyard memorials while he was the priest in charge of All Saints Church in Darton, near Barnsley.

He should have given the money to the diocese and the parochial church council, the court was told.

South Yorkshire Police feared Reynolds, of Farnham, Surrey, could have fled to mainland Europe, and alerted Interpol.

But Reynolds, who denied the charges against him, handed himself in at a Sheffield police station earlier today, where he was arrested.

He is due to appear in court later.

Senior members of the clergy had appealed for Reynolds to hand himself in, including the Right Reverend Tony Robinson, Bishop of Wakefield, and the Venerable Peter Townley, the Archdeacon of Pontefract.

His trial heard that Reynolds had not paid any fees for weddings or funerals to the Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance for a number of years, despite carrying out a number of services.

Monuments for 23 burials and 50 cremation plaques or inscriptions were found in the grounds of the church and graveyard, but there were no records of these burials and cremations.

The church began an investigation after Reynolds left his post in 2013 when it became apparent some cheques had been made out to him personally.