Mark Proctor guilty of conning churches
A conman who was one of the region's most wanted criminals has admitted swindling churches across Staffordshire.
Mark Proctor, 47, duped priests and vicars by telling them a close relative had died in Jersey or the Isle of Wight and he needed money to get to the funeral.
Cannock magistrates heard yesterday that he also struck in the West Midlands, Northumbria, Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire.
At one church in Berwick-on-Tweed, he was paid as much as £500. The churches in Staffordshire he is said to have approached include St Michael's in Penkridge, and the United
Reformed Church in Wombourne. He is also said to have struck at Darlington Street Methodist Church in Wolverhampton.
Proctor, who gave his address as the Abbey Hotel in Stafford, pleaded guilty to six charges of fraud at churches.
He also admitted 34 similar matters which he asked the court to take into consideration.
