Two priests robbed at knifepoint

Two priests have been robbed at knifepoint in their parochial house in County Tyrone.

In Cookstown, two men broke a window in the house at Convent Road where the two priests lived at 0245 GMT on Monday.

They ransacked downstairs and woke one of the curates, threatening him with a knife before taking cash and a car.

Meanwhile, a charity collection was taken from another priest as he returned to his parochial house in west Belfast, at the weekend.

In the Cookstown robbery, Father Liam McKinney was sleeping when the thieves woke him.

"My bedroom door burst open. There were two young men in their early 20s. They demanded money, a knife was produced and I was led down to the other priest's bedroom," he said.

"In many ways, you are trying to watch the knife. You don't know what is going through your mind. It is a mixture of fear and adrenaline. It was an experience that I hope never to have to repeat."

Car stolen

The thieves took £400 and one of the men's car. One of the priests managed to break away from the robbers and raise the alert.

The priests have strengthened their security following the robbery.

In west Belfast, a priest was returning to St John's Presbytery at the weekend, when the thieves took money from a charity collection.

In September, another priest was assaulted during a burglary at a parochial house in County Down.

The priest, believed to be retired, was asleep upstairs in the house at Drumnaconagher Road, Crossgar, when he was awoken by an intruder who pushed him to the ground. He suffered a cut to the head.

The intruder then fled. A number of rooms had been ransacked and money was stolen.