The Church of England made a six-figure pay-off to a priest assessed as a potential risk to children and young people, a BBC investigation has found. A senior member of staff at Blackburn Cathedral resigned over the settlement and says concerns about the priest were “an open secret” among senior clergy.
Canon Andrew Hindley – who worked in Blackburn diocese from 1991 to 2021 – was subject to five police investigations, including into allegations of sexual assault. He has never been charged with any criminal offences and says he has never presented any safeguarding risk to anyone.
The archbishops of Canterbury and York have told the BBC they are “still working” to get Church processes right and “must learn” from past mistakes. The former Bishop of Blackburn Julian Henderson described the financial settlement when he was in post as the “only option” left for the Church “to protect children and vulnerable young people from the risk Canon Hindley posed.
Despite many people we approached being unwilling to talk, our two-year investigation also found:
Restrictions on Canon Hindley, banning him from choir school and school visits, were never monitored
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, backed a plan to close Blackburn Cathedral if the priest returned to work from suspension.
Three Lancashire bishops complained “strings have been pulled and networks have been used to effect Canon Hindley’s ongoing ministry. There were previous attempts to pay the priest to leave, dating back more than 15 years.
Source: BBC
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