A vicar foiled a thief who was trying to steal the church collection box takings by commanding him to kneel.
Father Andrew Cain then blocked the intruder's escape route until police arrived at St James's Church in West Hampstead.
Mr Cain, 44, was alerted by the screams of his assistant curate Christine Cargill, who had just delivered the morning sermon and returned to the vestry where she found a man rummaging through the safe. Mr Cain, who works out at the gym several times a week, said: "I just stood in front of him and told him to kneel down on the floor. Luckily he was quite obliging. I didn't realise at the time it was quite appropriate language. I was worried about Christine. You don't think about the danger until afterwards."
Ms Cargill said the thief must have crawled along the church floor into the vestry while she was holding the service last week. He found the key to the safe and tried to take £150 in cash, an iPhone and a corkscrew.
Eric McDougall, 54, of no fixed address, was jailed for two months after pleading guilty to burglary at Highbury magistrates' court.
