Husband Jailed For LOOTING His Own Wedding Venue… And His Heavily Pregnant Bride Is Standing By Him

Newly-weds: The couple are pictured cutting their wedding cake at the venue

A heavily pregnant bride vowed to stand by her new husband today – even though he was jailed for trashing and looting their wedding venue.

Bridie Sparks, 24, had just wed Christopher Richards, 25, when he and three friends went back to the club where they held the reception to plunder it of thousands of pounds worth of alcohol and computers.

The group also caused more than £20,000 of damage to property in the building by smashing doors and ripping cabinets off walls.

The raid occurred after kind-hearted accountant Catherine Murphy, who runs the Bacup Hub club in Bacup, Lancashire, laid on a half price champagne buffet for the couple and their 90 guests because they complained of being broke and she felt sorry for them.

Richards an unemployed former labourer later handed himself into police after CCTV captured him inside the building and the pictures were published in a local newspaper.

Miss Murphy, 34, who had bought the venue for £175,000 and who at the time was also pregnant was said to so 'emotionally tortured' by Richard's betrayal she tried to kill herself.

At Burnley Crown Court, Richards of Bacup, admitted burglary and was jailed for six months after what a judge described as 'a dreadful offence.'

But today Miss Sparks, who already has two children with Richards and will now give birth to their third whilst he is in jail, said she would stick with her husband.

She said : 'I'm standing by my man because I love him and nobody is perfect. I know my husband isn't an angel and it hurts that he went back to the same place we got married.

'But Christopher has admitted he's done something wrong and is serving his time, he's truly sorry. He has been crying on the phone from jail.

'I'm now 35 weeks pregnant and I won't even have my husband by my side for the pregnancy. It's affected me badly, with lots of people staring at me in the street, thinking I had something to do with it.

'It has been very distressing for me, even though I had nothing at all to do with it.'

She added: 'My wedding memories are tarnished now because of what he did. I can't even look at our wedding photos now. I was going to watch our wedding DVD the other night, but I stopped myself as it just reminds me of the bad situation we're in now.

'When I saw the CCTV stills of my husband I just felt sick, he looked like a criminal. I was disgusted as any wife would be. On the night of the incident he came back drunk and I knew instantly he had done something wrong.

'I told him he was going to ruin the future for us and he crumbled because he knew I was right – all because of one drunken night. It was an act of stupidity; I wish he had thought of me and the kids.'

The court heard how Richards and his bride had held their reception at the venue in July last year – just six months before last January's raid.

Miss Murphy only charged the couple £1,060 for the whole day – including venue, champagne, chocolate fountain and bouncy castle – paying the rest of the £2,400 total herself.

But Richards, his usher George Taylor, 24, and two other intruders returned to the club repeatedly throughout the night of January 2 and 3 between about 10pm and about 7am smashing doors and ripping cabinets off walls.

Richards and his usher helped snatch 62 bottles of spirits worth £1,130 from the bar and grabbed 159 bottles of spirits and cans of soft drinks worth £2,672 from the storeroom during their callous dead of night raid.

More than 80 bottles of wine valued at £1,714 and 2,602 bottles or cans of beer and alcopops worth £2,089 were also lifted from the main bar fridge.

Items including computers and laptops and DVDs and valued at £14,970 went missing and it cost £24,214 to replace damaged property such as CCTVs, mirrors, tiles, cupboards and glasses. The total cost of the raid in theft and damage was £46,790.

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