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| Nationwide hunt for on-the-run thieving Barnsley vicar | Nationwide hunt for on-the-run thieving Barnsley vicar |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A nationwide hunt is under way for a vicar who went on the run as he was convicted of pocketing £24,000 of fees intended for weddings and funerals. | A nationwide hunt is under way for a vicar who went on the run as he was convicted of pocketing £24,000 of fees intended for weddings and funerals. |
| Simon Reynolds, of Farnham, Surrey, did not return to Sheffield Crown Court for the verdict on Thursday and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. | Simon Reynolds, of Farnham, Surrey, did not return to Sheffield Crown Court for the verdict on Thursday and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. |
| South Yorkshire Police said it was working with a number of other forces to try to find him. | South Yorkshire Police said it was working with a number of other forces to try to find him. |
| Reynolds was vicar at All Saints Church in Darton when the thefts happened. | Reynolds was vicar at All Saints Church in Darton when the thefts happened. |
| Judge Julian Goose QC said Reynolds had disappeared from court at lunchtime even though his bail rules did not allow him to leave the building. | Judge Julian Goose QC said Reynolds had disappeared from court at lunchtime even though his bail rules did not allow him to leave the building. |
| 'Face the people' | |
| He was found guilty of four counts of theft in his absence. | He was found guilty of four counts of theft in his absence. |
| The Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Rev Tony Robinson, said he was concerned for the welfare of Reynolds and urged him to "come back to face the people in Sheffield". | |
| He added: "For someone to abscond in this way they mustn't be in a great mental state and we want to assure Simon that we'll do all we can to support him." | |
| A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "We are working with a number of forces across the country to find him. | A South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: "We are working with a number of forces across the country to find him. |
| "We are urging people who may have seen him to phone 101." | "We are urging people who may have seen him to phone 101." |
| Reynolds, of Upper Church Lane, was accused of keeping an estimated £24,000 of fees handed over by bereaved families and engaged couples when he was priest-in-charge of the church near Barnsley. | Reynolds, of Upper Church Lane, was accused of keeping an estimated £24,000 of fees handed over by bereaved families and engaged couples when he was priest-in-charge of the church near Barnsley. |
| The trial had previously heard money from three of the thefts should have been sent to the Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance for marriages, funerals and graveyard memorials. | The trial had previously heard money from three of the thefts should have been sent to the Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance for marriages, funerals and graveyard memorials. |
| The fourth count of theft relates to payments for monuments that should have gone to the parochial church council. | The fourth count of theft relates to payments for monuments that should have gone to the parochial church council. |
| The court was told an investigation showed Reynolds had only passed on a fraction of what he should. | The court was told an investigation showed Reynolds had only passed on a fraction of what he should. |
| Suspicions were raised after Reynolds left Darton in 2013 to take up a new post in the Diocese of Guildford. |