Former priest Christopher Brain has been found guilty of one count of rape and four charges of sexual assault, after a retrial at Inner London Crown Court, according to the Press Association.
Brain, 69, led the Sheffield-based Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), an evangelical movement linked to the Church of England, between 1986 and 1995. A jury previously convicted him of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women.
The verdicts mean Brain has now been convicted of 22 sexual offences against 13 women. He will remain in custody until sentencing. Judge Freya Newbury said victims would be able to deliver impact statements at a hearing expected to last two days.
The court heard that NOS, founded by Brain at St Thomas’s Church in Sheffield before moving to the city centre’s Ponds Forge area, attracted mainly university students and young adults and had about 500 members at its height. Its services took place at 9pm on Sundays and featured live music and nightclub-style lighting.
Prosecutors said Brain used his position as leader and later as an ordained priest to control women in the congregation. They said he isolated them from friends and family, took control of their finances and created a culture of fear and dependency. Brain admitted having sexual relationships with followers but said they were consensual.
In the retrial, the court heard that Brain lured one woman to his home, gave her whisky and raped her in an attic bedroom. Another woman described being pressured to wear provocative clothing and recalled standing naked in front of Brain while he remained fully clothed.
Julie Moss, senior crown prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, described Brain’s conduct as a campaign of manipulation and abuse. She said the women had been made to believe that resisting his sexual advances reflected personal or spiritual failings, adding: “This was not consent. It was forced submission, caused by the culture of fear and dependency Brain had deliberately created.”
A survivor whose statement was shared by the law firm Slater and Gordon said it was a cause of shame that it had taken more than 30 years for the case to reach this point. The survivor said the Church of England should also have been “in the dock”, while stressing that this did not lessen Brain’s responsibility.
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Reverend Pete Wilcox, said he had previously offered an unreserved apology for the abuse of power and leadership within NOS and that the apology remained in full. He said an independent safeguarding practice review into the Church’s response would now begin.
Detective Superintendent Eleanor Welsh of South Yorkshire Police said Brain had caused significant harm through the abuse of power and manipulation of the women’s faith. She paid tribute to those who gave evidence and said the verdicts could offer them some comfort.
