Former addict stole €7k vessel from church

A man who stole a €7,000 gold-plated monstrance, which contained the Holy Sacrament, from a Dublin church as part of a string of robberies has been sentenced to seven years.

Mark Mosley, aged 24, who has 71 previous convictions, was also sentenced for robbing a mobile phone from a man at knifepoint at a Dart station, threatening a garda at court, and to a house burglary. He had been abusing alcohol, tablets, and heroin at the time.

The monstrance had been presented to St Bridget’s Church in Killester in 1927. It has not been recovered.