"Secret Wife" of Sex Case Priest

By Paul Jeeves
The Express
March 15, 2013

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/384382/Secret-wife-of-sex-case-priest

Finnegan faces sex charge

Father William Finnegan wed abroad a decade ago – despite a vow of celibacy – keeping his wife Beverley Dawson a secret from parishioners and the church hierarchy.

Finnegan, 59, confessed to the marriage during his trial at Bradford Crown Court. Finnegan, known to parishioners as Father Bill, of Castleford, West Yorkshire, was parish priest at St Clare’s, in Fagley, Bradford, when the alleged assault happened last Easter.

No, you didn’t miss-hear me. His wife. He and Beverley Dawson secretly married abroad in September 1999

Jeremy Hill-Baker, Barrister

He denies sexually assaulting the girl, aged 17, by touching her bottom and forcefully kissing her. His barrister Jeremy Hill-Baker told the jury: “We are going to hear evidence from Father Bill and we are going to be hearing evidence from his wife, Beverley Dawson.

“No, you didn’t miss-hear me. His wife. He and Beverley Dawson secretly married abroad in September 1999.”

The court heard they had travelled to Cyprus to wed in a civil ceremony, a fact known only to close friends and family.

The trial continues.