‘Descecration and drug taking’ in grave yard - PSNI appeal after 200-year-old grave stone vandalised

The damage was done to the graveyard on the Lurgan Road, known locally as the Old Meeting House Graveyard.

Sergeant Stewart said: “We received a report shortly after 11.30am on Sunday, May 29, that a headstone had been vandalised and kicked over, causing it to split.

“Grave ornaments and flowers had also been thrown around two other gravesites and there was also some evidence of drug misuse in the area. This is an appalling act of criminal damage.

“A graveyard is a place for quiet reflection to peacefully pay respects to loved ones who are no longer with us. The damage caused to these gravesites shows a total lack of respect and is very upsetting for grieving loved ones.”

Rev Brian Moodie of Banbridge Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, which cares for the site, said his church is “rather disturbed”.

“We have families whose loved ones are buried there and it is really quite an invasion and a desecration of sacred family space,” he said. “There is one gravestone from the 1800s that has been half uprooted and flowers have been thrown around. The community seems to have been quite disturbed by it.”

Sam Agnew, Clerk of Session at the church, said they have been finding plastic bottles with holes melted in them in the graveyard which have been used for taking drugs.

“Some of them have been thrown over the railings surrounding some graves and onto the graves themselves. Some of our families have been very hurt. “It is upsetting if you have put flowers and ornaments on the grave and they are just thrown all around the place.”

The vandalised gravestone, which is made of slate, has been either kicked over or pulled out of the ground in some way. It is not clear whether it was already split before it was vandalised.

“We are not looking for anyone to be hung, drawn and quartered - we just want people to have a bit of respect and consider whether that is the most appropriate place to be. But aside from that, do they then need to wreck anything on the way out?”

Jason Diamond, who takes a keen interest in local history, is the Tourist Information Officer at the FE McWilliams Gallery in the town.

“It is a very old grave yard,” he said. “It was the site of the first Presbyterian meeting house in Banbridge, which was built in 1716. Historically it is quite a significant graveyard. If they are using it for taking drugs and descreating the graves it is horrific.

The graveyard is mentioned in a book called Heart of Downe by Prof RSJ Clarke, he said. “

He did this great series of books of older gravestone inscriptions covering all of Northern Ireland, with a group of volunteers. It is a very significant graveyard for the Banbridge area. Some of the Crozier family would be buried there, who are connected to Capt Francis Crozier, the arctic explorer who discovered the North-West passage.”

Police are asking for information on tel 101 quoting ref 860 of 29/05/22. Information may also be submitted via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.