Two churches agree £40,000 settlement with man following allegations of non‑recent sexual and spiritual abuse by former priest

David, not his real name, brought a claim against Christ Church in North Shields and St Peter’s Church in Balkwell relating to abuse he says was carried out by former priest Peter McConnell during the 1990s. 

David was aged around 10 or 11 when he first met McConnell at Christ Church in North Shields, where McConnell was a curate with responsibility for youth activities. David says that McConnell groomed him, exerting intense emotional and spiritual influence and instilling a fear of disappointing him. He recalls that one occasion when he expressed an interest in another religion, McConnell reacted angrily and made David feel he had betrayed him. 

David says the alleged abuse affected his academic choices, his friendships and the amount of time he spent at church, with his father said to have raised concerns about the extent of McConnell’s involvement in his son’s life. 

McConnell later moved to St Peter’s Church in Balkwell. David, then aged around 17, was invited to a dinner party at McConnell’s home. That evening, David recalls that McConnell pushed him against a bookcase, kissed him, and groped him before managing to push McConnell away and rejoining the other guests. From that evening David avoided McConnell. 

In 2019, McConnell received a suspended prison sentence for sexually assaulting a student on a plane. The following year he was prohibited from ministry for life. The Diocese of Newcastle subsequently carried out a ‘Lessons Learned Review’, which examined several complaints against McConnell dating back to 1998.  

David’s civil claim was settled pre‑action, with Christ Church and St Peter’s each agreeing to pay £20,000 in compensation.

Leigh Day partner Andrew Lord represented David. He said: 

“David’s account highlights the significant levels of manipulation exercised by Peter McConnell in what was a relationship of layered imbalance between a clergyman and a child. This breach of the trust was truly appalling.

"We now know that several complaints about Peter McConnell’s conduct had been raised in the decades before he was eventually convicted and barred from ministry. While it is welcome that the Diocese of Newcastle commissioned a Lessons Learned Review, it is vital that such patterns of behaviour are identified and acted upon far sooner to protect children and young people.”

David said:  

“McConnell was an abuser. He had a huge impact on my life and he never apologised or, it appeared to me, had any moral insight into his offences and sins towards me. He truly was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I believe was protected by those around him.  

“It is really sad to say that the Church has a long, long way to go in putting into action the promises it has made at a Diocesan and national level. Apologies are healing but being put through a process where I have had to describe what happened to me, over and again, is hardly the right or Christian thing to put survivors through. The Church of England needs to get its act together and instruct those representing them to respond in a more charitable and caring manner."