Llangollen funeral disrupted by attempted hearse theft

Sep 22 2008 By David Simister

CROOKS who tried to jump into a Llangollen hearse last week for their latest joyride have been branded as despicable by angry mourners.

The thieves tried to snatch the vehicle from a funeral service at St Collen’s Church, held last Tuesday, while pensioner Betty Roberts was being paid tribute to inside the building.

"What is the world coming to? This is a completely despicable thing to do and showed a complete lack of respect for Mrs Roberts," said former county council leader Stuart Davies, one of the mourners at the service.

"In my opinion, community service for this type of people is just not good enough. They shouldn’t be given a slap on the wrist, they should be locked up."

The two men got into the funeral vehicle and tried to snatch it as it was parked outside the church, on Bridge Street, but were unable to start it. They then tried to get into another car parked nearby and make a getaway, but were blocked by a driver in another car who realised what was going on.

Funeral director John Thomas, whose firm owns the hearse, said that if the pair had successfully stolen the vehicle it would have had a devastating effect on Betty Roberts’ friends and family.

"It’s the first time something like this has happened in 40 years, and it would have been terrible for the family if they had stolen the hearse," he said.

"My son Mark is the driver of that hearse. We always take the keys out of the hearse, but it’s still a terrible thing to happen."

The two men fled the scene shortly after 1pm, but were later caught up with by police officers after being tipped off by a member of the public.

Both men, one of whom appeared to be drinking from a bottle after the incident, were not formally charged but were given a caution by officers.

"The men were spoken to about their stupid behaviour," said Inspector Steve Williams.