Shrine thieves sentenced

The two men who stole a historically priceless, precious shrine of St Manchan from Boher church dumped it in a bog because it was of no financial value to them. At Tullamore District Court both were sentenced to maximum 240 hours community service in lieu of ten months in prison for theft of the shrine, which is venerated by visitors from around the world. It had been in the Boher area since 1120 and is now in garda care, but no decision has been made yet about whether it will go back to the church or to the National Museum of Ireland. Thomas Roche (39) of Boyne Meadows, Edenderry, Offaly, and Bernard McCarthy (37), Foxdene Gardens, Clondalkin, Dublin, examined the shrine after stealing it and dumped it because they thought it was worthless. Garda Linda Walsh described how a member of the community saw one of the men leave the church with the shrine and gardai caught up with their green Lexus just outside Dublin later the same day. They told gardai they had stopped to go to the toilet and had seen the shrine, but later realised it was of no value to them. When they became aware of its value to the local community, she said they admitted where they'd left it. McCarthy, a father of three, has 14 previous convictions for offences including robbery, car theft, theft, criminal damage and assault and has been given prison sentences of up to five years. Roche, a father of six has six previous convictions, two of which are for theft. When charged he told gardai: "I'm sorry for the distress I caused the community. It was a spur of the moment thing. If I could turn back time, I wouldn't do it again." Ms Shalom Binchy, who was representing the men, said her clients' co-operation with gardai led to the recovery of the undamaged shrine. They now realise that while it was of no monetary value, the shrine is of great value to the Offaly community. It was "a very, very stupid offence," she said, offering compensation. Inspector Keyes said the option of doing community service at the church had been deemed "not appropriate." He said that compensation would assist the church with its ongoing restoration project. Judge Catherine Staines said increased security will be needed if the shrine is returned to the church, and described the offence as "extremely serious." The shrine was priceless, and "of extreme importance to the people of Boher and the State," she said. But in view of their co-operation, she said she will impose the community service order in October if each man pays €1,000 compensation.