A vicar who took in a homeless man said she has forgiven him after he stole £2,000 of silver from a church in Botley.

The Rev Rosemary Bates, the priest in charge at St Peter and St Paul Church, spoke of her sadness after Andrew Midwinter was jailed at Oxford Crown Court for stealing silver from the church and breaking into the vicarage in West Way on June 5.

Midwinter, 20, of Westfield, Harwell, pleaded guilty last Friday to two counts of burglary.

Midwinter, who had been in care since the age of 11, was said to have used his knowledge of the house and church to carry out the break-ins.

The court was told that Midwinter, who was addicted to crack cocaine, had committed the offences with an accomplice who had not been caught.

The vicar, who learned of his prison sentence through the Oxford Mail, said she believed the other offender was the prime mover behind the crimes.

She said: "Andy and his partner were having a very difficult time and I took them into the house and they came to live at the vicarage.

"I do forgive Andy, and I feel very saddened for Michelle, their son Liam, and the baby which is expected, and pray for the wellbeing of them all.

"Had it been only my personal property involved I would have preferred that a young father was not in prison.

"But I have a responsibility to the community and the care of the churches for which I am priest in charge.

"The reason why we got the property back was because Andy reflected, was genuinely sorry, and informed the police as to where all the church property was, and for that I'm extremely grateful."

In sentencing Midwinter to 30 months, concurrently, for each offence, Judge Anthony King said: "This was done in the dead of night when women were asleep in this house.

"You used the knowledge which you had acquired because you had enjoyed the hospitality of that house before, to gain entry to the house, and then steal silver from the church.

"These are both grave offences."