Women jailed for stealing church wine

Two Italian women have been jailed for stealing three bottles of wine from their local church in Abruzzo.

As reported by The Local, the parishioners were on convicted on Tuesday for stealing wine from a church in Lanciano, a town in Abruzzo, in 2012.

The women had allegedly gone to their local priest to ask for charity before breaking into the church and stealing three bottles of wine.

The theft was captured on CCTV, leading to a €5,000 fine and prison sentences of a year and eight months respectively.

The case comes just months after thieves stole a relic stained with Pope John Paul II’s blood in a neighbouring church in Arbuzzo.

On their arrest the three thieves said they had thrown the cloth away.