Man charged after spate of church collection box robberies

A priest-turned-detective in East Cork tracked down an alleged collection box thief who is now in Garda custody.

The priest became aware of the thief when he found cheques for annual church donations from another parish in his collection box Sunday January 24, according to The Sun.

The cleric investigated using CCTV footage from cameras installed in his church to see if someone was raiding the collection boxes.

It’s understood the alleged robber used a hooked piece of wire to extract envelopes containing cash from collection boxes in Catholic churches throughout East Cork. The priest contacted Gardaí in Cobh who began a surveillance operation in the church.

A man returned to the church in Carrigtwohill to allegedly attempt to take money from the collection box. He was followed by Gardai at a safe distance and was stopped and arrested near Cork City. He will appear in court on charges related to these incidents.