A woman who used a piece of 14th century masonry to smash into King's Lynn's oldest church has been jailed for 19 months.

Laura Bailey, 34, and her accomplice broke masonry from an outside wall of the listed All Saints church in South Lynn, and used it to smash through a glass panel to gain access inside the church, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Bailey and her accomplice then stole a World War One medal which had been lent for display and the sound system, worth in total £3300.

Marc Brown, prosecuting, said they also disturbed items around the church and altar.

However, Bailey was disturbed when the priest came to the church and saw Bailey and another man leaving the scene, and discovered the break-in.

Police were called and found a bottle with Bailey's fingerprint on it. Bailey was arrested shortly afterwards and the medal was recovered.

Bailey, of no fixed address, admitted the burglary, which occurred on October 7 last year, and was jailed for a total of 19 months.

Jailing her, Judge Katharine Moore, said the church was a centre of the community for hundreds of years and said the masonry they had broken could never be replaced.

She told Bailey: 'You should be ashamed of yourself.'

Another man, Ricky Norman, 22, was found in possession of the church sound system and he admitted handling stolen goods. Judge Moore jailed him for six months.

William Carter, for Bailey, said she was under the influence of drink and drugs when she took part in the burglary

'There was no significant planning.'

He said she had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and her remorse was genuine.

He said while on remand she was trying to detox and come off drugs.

Mr Carter said Bailey wanted to move away from King's Lynn on her release.

Andrew Shaw, for Norman, said he played no part in the burglary but had paid £80 for the sound equipment as he thought it was a chance to make money.

He also had been taking drugs for a long time but was now trying to tackle his problem.

All Saints Church rector, Father Adrian Ling said afterwards: 'The masonry that was taken was loose. It has not been replaced, because we are waiting to apply for grants for repairs. We have replaced the glass that was smashed.

'People were quite outraged by the theft, which surprised me, as churches nowadays do get broken into.

'We were very grateful to donations we received from individuals afterwards. And the London Porterhouse pub in Lynn immediately held a quiz night, which raised £200 to replace the glass.

'The Diocese of Norwich also helped by replacing part of the sound equipment that was taken. We were very pleased that the medal was recovered.'

He added: 'We feel very sorry that, through addiction to drugs, people are reduced to such depths as stealing from a church. It was a tragic and desperate act.'

As reported, the 1918 victory medal that was stolen was returned to the sister of Lance Corporal Edwin Lambert of the 9th Service Batallion Norfolk Regiment.

The medal was the only thing Evelyn Richards had to remember her brother by, as she was born a year after his death.

L Cpl Lambert died on October 23, 1918, days before the war ended, due to wounds suffered from a gas shell explosion in Rouen, France.

The EDP is campaigning to combat lead thefts from our historic lead churches. Visit www.edp24.co.uk

Have you got a story about a west Norfolk church? Email david.bale2@archant.co.uk