Child Abuse at Church Could Have LED to Man's Alcoholism

By Stephanie Cockroft
Get Hampshire
February 3, 2012

http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s/2107673_child_abuse_at_church_could_have_led_to_mans_alcoholism_

AN alcoholic drank himself to death after struggling to cope with the memories of being sexually abused by a Roman Cathlolic priest when he served as an altar boy, an inquest has heard.

Simon Withrington was found dead in his Aldershot home on November 17 last year, after drinking enough vodka to put him more than six times over the drink-drive limit.

The coroner Andrew Bradley, who took the hearing at Alton Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, gave a verdict of misadventure and said it was clear Mr Withrington had not actively tried to kill himself.

The victim's father, who was present at the inquest, said his son had battled with alcohol addiction for a lot of his life.

But it was only last July when it emerged that 38-year-old Mr Withrington's drinking was a way of coping with a troubled childhood.

The inquest heard he was sexually abused as a nine-year-old altar server, but had kept the ordeal secret in order to protect his mother's faith.