No verdict on remaining charges against ex-priest Chris Brain

Jurors trying a former priest convicted of indecently assaulting nine women have failed to reach verdicts on five outstanding charges of alleged sexual abuse.

Chris Brain, who led the “cult-like” evangelical movement the Nine O’clock Service in Sheffield in the 1980s and 90s, was found guilty on Wednesday of 17 charges of indecent assault.

However, the jury at Inner London Crown Court were unable to reach verdicts on a further four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape and has been discharged.

Brain, 68, of Wilmslow, Cheshire – who was cleared of 15 charges of indecent assault – is due to be sentenced later this year.

During the course of his trial, jurors heard how Brain launched The Nine O’clock Service (NOS) in 1984 at St Thomas’ Church in Crookes, before moving to the city’s Ponds Forge sports centre as its popularity grew.

The services, which blended live music and multi-media displays with Christian worship, were initially lauded by the Church of England and Brain was fast-tracked into the priesthood in 1991.

However, the movement collapsed in controversy in 1995 after a number of women came forward to say they had been sexually abused by Brain during his tenure as leader.

Following the verdicts, the Bishop of Sheffield, the Right Reverend Dr Pete Wilcox, said Brain’s actions were “an appalling abuse of power and leadership that should never have occurred”.

“Where concerns were raised in the past and were not acted upon properly, that was a failing of the Church. For those institutional failures I offer an unreserved apology.”

Dr Wilcox said he would commission an independent review into the scandal, the detail and scope of which would be decided later this year.

He said the review “will examine our safeguarding responses, culture, and processes so that we can identify where lessons can be learned and strengthen best practice for the future”.

“Words will never undo the harm that has been caused.”

Richard Scorer, who represented Chris Brain’s victims, said the case “could and should have been prosecuted 30 years ago”.

“The Church of England must now reckon with its role – this high-control religious cult operated on its watch.”

He said there had been “clear warning signs” about Brain which were not acted upon.

“Their failure to act enabled a predator to flourish under the guise of spiritual authority,” he added.

Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told Brain’s trial the NOS had originally “presented itself as a progressive force for good”.

However behind the scenes he said it was a “closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated” saying that Brain had “abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation”.

He said the group “became a cult” in which members were encouraged to cut themselves off from family and friends, leaving them “utterly dependent” on NOS and “desperate for the attention and praise” of its leader.