Ex-minister who defrauded church and widow jailed

The judge said McLaughlin abused the trust of his congregation

A former minister who defrauded his church of £10,000 and a grieving widow of £1,000 has been jailed for six months.

Adrian Robert McLaughlin, 50, from Church Avenue in Dunmurry, was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday.

McLaughlin was previously found guilty by a jury of defrauding £10,000 from St Colman's Church of Ireland in Dunmurry on a dates between 15 October and 30 November 2016.

The jury also found him guilty of defrauding a parishioner, whose husband had died, of £1,000 between 24 September and 31 October 2016.

Sentencing, judge Patrick Lynch KC said McLaughlin abused the trust of his congregation and regarded the parish "as if it was a personal fiefdom".

In January 2016, the judge said, a fire at the church caused extensive damage and a fund was set up to help with restoration costs.

Over a period from August 2016 to November 2016, the church did not have a treasurer and cheques issued from the church's accounts required two signatures - one from McLaughlin and the other from a nominated individual.

The court heard that on October 16 in 2016, McLaughlin approached the nominated individual and asked him to co-sign a cheque for £10,000 which he claimed was to purchase a replacement church organ.

The following month, after a member of the congregation took up the position of treasurer, it was discovered the cheque stub for the £10,000 transaction bore the name Northern Ireland Organs Limited.

The court heard it later emerged McLaughlin had instead made the cheque out to himself.

'Sense of hurt and disappointment'

Regarding the £1,000 fraud, the judge said this was handed to McLaughlin by a parishioner who had just lost her husband.

She made the donation on the understanding the money would be used to purchase memorial items in honour of her deceased husband.

On this occasion, McLaughlin requested that the payee line be left blank on the cheque - and instead of purchasing the memorial items - McLaughlin filled in his own name and pocketed the £1,000.

Judge Lynch told the court he had read victim impact statements.

In her statement, the widow spoke of her upset at being lied to by McLaughlin who she said was "someone my late husband and I trusted".

The judge commented on the "sense of hurt and disappointment" from every sentence of her statement.

McLaughlin was handed a 12-month sentence, half of which is to be served in custody before being released on licence.