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  Vicar Banned after 'Improper' Affair

Yorkshire Post
November 23, 2007

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Vicar-banned-after-improper-affair.3519605.jp

A MARRIED Yorkshire priest who had an affair with another woman has been banned from being a vicar for four years.

In the first case of a clergy member facing a Church of England disciplinary tribunal, Reverend David King, 54, from Egton, was found to have had an "improper, intimate and physical relationship" with married mother-of-four Tracy Byrne.

Both were still married when the affair started in December 2004. In the same month Mrs Byrne split with her husband but Mr King did not leave his wife until July the next year. Both couples are now divorced.

Mrs Byrne's husband James, 52, blamed the vicar for the breakdown of his marriage. He complained to the Church of England and Mr King was suspended on full pay in February.

The tribunal at Leeds Crown Court acknowledged that even though Mrs Byrne was not his parishioner, Mr King had been "inappropriate" in having the affair.

The tribunal heard how Mrs Byrne's son found correspondence from the vicar, including a birthday card with a naked man on the front.

 
 

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