Lodger who stole £1,750 from vicar's Christmas charity box spared jail

A law student who stole a church’s charity collection while he was lodging with the vicar has been spared jail.

Peter Gillanders, 29, stole the Reverend Colin Amos’s chequebook and bank card during his stay at the vicarage of St Augustine’s Church in Kilburn.

After being kicked out for not paying rent, Gillanders, who has committed burglary, fraud and theft offences in the past, sneaked in to steal £1,750 given to charity by parishioners at Christmas.

At Blackfriars crown court, Recorder Patrick Roche sentenced him to 12 months’ in jail, suspended for two years. He said: “These offences represent an appalling breach of trust. The theft of £1,750 in charitable donations is a particularly mean-minded offence.”

The court heard that Gillanders was offered a room at the vicarage in May last year by Mr Amos, who agreed to let him off a deposit if he paid extra rent.

In October, the vicar’s bank told him that someone had tried to cash an £800 cheque with his forged signature. In November, Mr Amos asked Gillanders to leave due to unpaid rent, unaware his chequebook and card had already been stolen. The vicar was called again by his bank on December 26 to say his card had been used to pay the £103 fee for a new passport. Three days later he was informed of the charity theft.

Police traced the fraudulent payments back to Gillanders at his new home in Kingsbury. He pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary, theft and fraud by false representation. Ann-Marie Talbot, defending, said he had stolen the £1,750 “when temptation struck” when he returned to collect his belongings.

“This was opportunistic and idiotic, in an unthought-out manner, behaving in this atrocious way,” she said. She told the court Gillanders had been in debt but is now working in a deli in Richmond and studying for a law qualification at the Open University. She said he has apologised to Mr Amos and urged Mr Roche not to “deny him the opportunity to demonstrate he could be a valuable member of the community”.

Yesterday Mr Roche ordered Gillanders to attend a 35-day rehab course, complete 120 hours of community service and repay the church £150 a month.