Man arrested after police appeal admits church burglaries

Christopher Coulthard, of no fixed address, is due to be sentenced at Hull Crown Court on March 25 after he pleaded guilty to four burglaries and 
one offence of theft from churches and Salvation Army premises at Beverley Magistrates’ 
Court.

The 50-year-old, who was wanted on prison recall, was arrested on Sunday after a worshipper at St Andrew’s Church, Ulrome, in East Yorkshire, spotted someone acting suspiciously inside the church.

Although nothing was missing, the member of the congregation contacted the police.

Coulthard, who travelled around the country by bicycle, was detained by officers near a church in Skipsea.

Last week North Yorkshire 
Police put out an appeal to hoteliers for information about Coulthard’s whereabouts in connection with a series of church burglaries.

They said he usually stayed at bed and breakfasts, pubs and hotels using a false name.

Coulthard, formerly of Bedworth, near Nuneaton, was wanted by Warwickshire Police for recall to prison after breaching the terms of his licence. He was jailed for nine years in 2010 but released on licence last November.

The offences with which he was charged were burglaries at St John’s Church, Harpham, St Hilda’s, Amplethorpe and St John the Baptist, Cayton, theft from St Peter and St Paul’s, Pickering, and burglary at the Salvation Army premises in Wellington Road, Bridlington.