Priest was mistaken for lead thief because he was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap

A priest who reported metal thieves stealing lead from his church's roof was mistakenly suspected of being the culprit because he was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap.

The Rev Dr Keith Brindle, 51, was praying with a parishioner as part of a 24-hour knife amnesty at St James' in Devizes, Wilts, last September when he heard loud thudding noises from the roof in the early hours of the morning.

Having walked through the church to detect the source of the commotion, the pair looked up to see feet passing the stained glass window on a first-floor roof and called 999.

So, Dr Brindle, who has been the church's priest since 2016, was rather taken aback when the responding officers initially mistook him for one of the criminals due to his casual appearance.

He told The Daily Telegraph: “I came running out of the church to show the police that the thieves had walked past the roof and had hit the deck and were lying flat.

“I had come out of the church to show the police where they were but they saw a bloke wearing a blue zipped up hoodie and a baseball cap and had to take a second take. It was only momentary and as soon as I said I was the vicar they said okay.”

“If they had picked any other night the thieves would have probably gotten away with the lead. It must have been a complete and utter surprise to them to discover a prayer vigil was taking place inside the church.”

One of the thieves, Jason Wynter, 49, of Salisbury, Wilts, was apprehended by police while he was still on the church roof.

He has subsequently been jailed for two years and one month after he pleaded guilty to theft and taking a vehicle without consent.

Swindon Crown Court last week heard how several metres of lead were removed from the church roof and that lead was later found in his car.

The incident preceded a local spate of thefts from church roofs, with some 20 other such historic buildings in Bath and Wells Diocese being targeted around April.