Man fined £11,000 after smashing Grade II-listed church’s stained glass window

A man who left traces of blood in a Grade II-listed church after smashing a stained glass window has been fined more than £11,000.

Craig Knight, 50, of Waltham Forest, broke into St Anne’s Church in Kew, London, while drunk on January 10, Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court heard.

Reverend Canon Dr Giles Fraser said that he saw blood on the church altar and floor, and discovered that two brass candlesticks had been taken.

Knight also entered a mausoleum behind the altar and opened up a box containing ashes, Reverend Fraser said.

The defendant was ‘extremely ashamed’ and reported what had happened to the police, the court heard.

Reverend Fraser said that the candlesticks were later returned to the court after Knight admitted his crimes.

Knight pleaded guilty to criminal damage and removal of human remains from a place of burial, and was sentenced to a 12-month community order.

He’s been fined a total of £11,415, including legal costs, and must carry out 60 hours of unpaid work.

Chairman of the magistrates’ bench Peter Jones said there was ‘recklessness and impulse’, but noted Knight’s remorse.

Reverend Fraser said: ‘I did feel quite angry when it happened. But the fact that the candles were returned, I think, made people feel rather sorry for him.’

St Anne’s Church was founded in 1714 after Queen Anne approved a chapel to be built on Kew Green.

It is the burial place of artists Thomas Gainsborough, Johann Zoffany and George Engleheart, and botanist, Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker.

In 2021, three people were arrested after a 500-year-old church was trashed during an illegal New Year’s Eve party attended by hundreds of revellers.

All Saints Church in East Horndon, Essex, was left with more than £1,000 worth of damage as ravers turned it into a party venue with a bar, DJ decks and Portaloos.

Parishioners said they were ‘devastated’ by the damage caused and estimated the bill for repairs to the Grade II* listed building could cost four figures.

Essex Police said officers had been threatened and had objects thrown at them while trying to shut the event down.

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