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| Thieving on-the-run Barnsley vicar Simon Reynolds jailed | Thieving on-the-run Barnsley vicar Simon Reynolds jailed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A vicar who went on the run after being convicted of pocketing more than £16,500 of church fees has been jailed for almost three years. | |
| Simon Reynolds, of Farnham in Surrey, did not return to Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday and a manhunt was launched. | Simon Reynolds, of Farnham in Surrey, did not return to Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday and a manhunt was launched. |
| Reynolds, who was found guilty of four counts of theft, handed himself in at a police station in Sheffield on Monday. | Reynolds, who was found guilty of four counts of theft, handed himself in at a police station in Sheffield on Monday. |
| He was vicar at All Saints Church in Darton, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, when the thefts took place. | He was vicar at All Saints Church in Darton, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, when the thefts took place. |
| At Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Julian Goose QC sentenced him to 30 months for stealing church fees and an additional two months for breaching his bail. | At Sheffield Crown Court, Judge Julian Goose QC sentenced him to 30 months for stealing church fees and an additional two months for breaching his bail. |
| 'Abused parishioners trust' | |
| The 50-year-old disgraced vicar took thousands of pounds of fees handed over to the church in Barnsley for weddings, funerals and churchyard memorials. | The 50-year-old disgraced vicar took thousands of pounds of fees handed over to the church in Barnsley for weddings, funerals and churchyard memorials. |
| Reynolds fled to Dusseldorf as the jury deliberated last week, but handed himself in to South Yorkshire Police in an arranged appointment. | Reynolds fled to Dusseldorf as the jury deliberated last week, but handed himself in to South Yorkshire Police in an arranged appointment. |
| Sentencing him, the judge said: "Reynolds' parishioners had let him into their homes and lives only to have their trust abused." | |
| Money from three of the thefts should have been sent to the Wakefield Diocesan Board of Finance for marriages, funerals and graveyard memorials, the jury heard. | |
| The fourth count related to payments for monuments that should have gone to the parochial church council. | |
| The prosecution estimated Reynolds had stolen £24,000 but the judge settled for "at least" £16,500. |