CHURCH THEFTS ALLEGED

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 August 1939, Page 12

CHURCH THEFTS ALLEGED

ACCUSED SPECIALLY GUARDED

KILLARNEY, July 16

A strong force of police guarded Killarney station to prevent incidents when Bryan Hassell, aged 18, and Kenneth Salt, aged 19, holidaymakers, from Finchley, N., arrived from Cork Gaol to answer charges of breaking into two churches.

Spectators were turned away from the courthouse where Hassell and Salt, who had been in custody for 12 days, were sent for trial. They were given bail.

They were accused of breaking and entering the Roman Catholic churches at Fossa and Derrycunihy (both near Killarncy); damaging a safe m the sacristy of Fossa Church; stealing a tabernacle key and 2G Sacred Hosts (wafers of bread consecrated at Mass); and doing £2O damage to windows at the other church. * I Hassell was said to have made this statement: “We both broke open the wooden safe. Salt got the key of the

tabernacle. He went to the altar and opened the steel door. He took away all the little wafers and threw them away-in a hedge. - - “I got the key from him and threw it away. We went to another, church and smashed some windows with stones.” A statement said to have been made

.'bv Salt read: “Hassell opened the door on the altar with the key. Inside 1 saw a little silver cup with a cloth on .it. Hassell .took out this cup. 1 took out the little wafers. 1 ate one and threw away the remainder.” Both statements said that Fossa church door was unlocked and the youths did not enter the other church.