Habitual church charity thief strikes again

27 January 2006

BRUSSELS — Described by the national media as the oldest thief of Belgium, Georges Pirard, of Anderlecht, was arrested for theft again on Thursday.

Just two days after he was sentenced for theft, Pirard was caught engaging in the same crimes in the church of Vosselaar and in Turnhout.

Hasselt Court sentenced on Tuesday the 78-year-old to a six-month jail term and a EUR 143 fine for three thefts from the offertory box of the Sint-Pietersbanden church of Lommel in June 2005.

After the sentence was handed down, Pirard promised he would stop stealing and take up the pension. However, he started stealing again in Vosselaar on Thursday and police arrested him in Turnhout.

For the crime in Lommel, Pirard had travelled by public transport to North Limburg and used a folding screen with double-sided sticky tape to scrounge EUR 70 out of the church’s offertory box.

Pirard told the Hasselt Court he had resorted to stealing because his wage was not enough to cover the rent and costs of his apartment, newspaper ‘De Standaard’ reported.

But when he faced court in Hasselt, the public prosecutor confronted him with an eight-page criminal record. Pirard had been jailed four times in the past.

He was again released from police custody after his arrest in Turnout on Thursday, but will need to appear at a later date in Turnout Court.

Subject: Belgian news