Earby teens say ‘sorry’ for church vandalism
Mar 16, 2010
from Chris Hopper's article in the Lancashire Telegraph:
Three teenagers who vandalised a church have apologised for their actions.
In youth court, the teens admitted smashing windows at All Saints Church, Earby, causing £15,000 worth of damage in September.
They also pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to cause damage at the former vicarage next to the church.
As part of their punishment, three of the four teenagers involved agreed to attend a meeting with church members as part of a restorative justice order, which allows offenders to make amends directly to the people or organisations they have harmed.
Restorative justice co-ordinator Christine Taylor said: “Everyone sat together and the members of the church were given the chance to ask questions and impress upon the teenagers the financial and emotional impact their actions had caused.
“The youths saw photographs of the damage to the church and saw the scaffolding that was up replacing the broken windows and could clearly see the gravity of their actions.”
One of the youths said: “Going back to the church made me really understand what we had done and it made me feel really bad.
"The people from the church were nice to us and we were able to say sorry for what we had done.”
Another youth said: “I realised that what we did was wrong and how upset we had made people. I will never do something like this again.”
The meeting facilitator, PC Karl Pickles, said the youths had responded well and apologised for what they had done.
“Their parents were also given the chance to speak and said how ashamed they had been by the incident,” he said.
