A report by Sky News on the risks to English country churches in the wake of the murder of Father Jacques Hamel in France has gone viral after the reporter stated: "I could have killed them all."
Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt went to pretty 19th century St James' parish church in Weybridge to investigate whether any increased security was visible.
He reported: "The morning service began about 20 minutes ago."
With apparent astonishment, he continues, "There are no obvious signs of any security. In fact, this sign at the church door says: Everybody is welcome."
The gravitas goes on:
"There are about a dozen worshippers in there.
"One priest."
Solemnly, he delivers his damning verdict: "If I was a terrorist, I could have killed them all."
The crime rate in Weybridge was 5.78 per cent for May 2016, with just 126 reports, one of the lowest in the county.
Influential political Order-Order blogger Guido Fawkes published a YouTube a spoof based on the Sky footage:
Twitter picked up the spoof, and soon the hashtag #icouldhavekilledthemall was trending:
Rev Theresa Ricketts, assistant curate, at St James, told Christian Today: "We did find it a slightly strange way to present the story, but we're not planning on stopping welcoming everyone to our church any time soon, and were glad the reporter was able to join us, albeit briefly!"
Christian Today has reached out to Sky News for comment.
