Angry Elderly Man Locks Noisy Christian Musicians in Church Tower
A group of professional church bell-ringers have been threatened and then locked in a church tower May 28, 2011 by…an angry pensioner!
The group of six bell-ringers had traveled all the way from south to north England especially to perform their talents. However, the noise from the bell-ringing did not impress the elderly man, who climbed the narrow winding staircase in the tower of St John the Evangelist Church in Sharow, North Yorkshire.
When he reached the summit the pensioner swore at the bell-ringers, threatening to damage their cars. He then slammed the door to the belfry and wedged a piece of wood in the door, trapping the church folk.
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The six musicians found themselves shut in and, despite banging on the trapdoor and calling for help, were trapped for half an hour before their cries for help were heard by another member of the church who was locking up.
According to the Daily Mail, the liberator Sandra Price commented: “I thought it was strange when I arrived and their cars were still outside and they were not ringing any more. I wandered up at 5.10pm and heard this stamping and I thought that was a funny way to ring the bells - it sounded more like Irish dancing!”
She continued: “I waited five minutes and a piece of wood flew down the stairs. I thought these people are destroying the church!”
It was then that Price heard the calls for help: “I heard them call out "we're trapped" so I climbed the next set of stage and found a piece of wood had been lodge in the hasp and staple. The piece of wood that fell down had obviously been stuck through there too.
“They said they were a third of a way through their peal when a man appeared, shouting and swearing,” she said.
Describing the attack she said, “He was being very, very nasty and threatening to smash up their cars. He must have been the one who locked them in. I tried to get a detailed description from them but the lady said they tried not to look at him because he was so angry. They just tried to ignore him until he left then finished their peal.”
Contemplating the seriousness of the attack Price added: “It's a criminal offence really, it's quite serious. If any of them had taken ill or there had been a fire, I just don't know what would have happened. I apologize on behalf of…the whole of Yorkshire. We are not normally like that here!”
Rosemary Triffitt, who had been in liaison with the bell-ringers told the Daily Mail: “The visiting band were high quality ringers, they weren't just making a jingle jangle.”
