Judge to rule on ex-bishop health

UNITED KINGDOM
Yahoo! News

Press Association

The health of an elderly ex-bishop will determine whether he can go on trial for alleged sex crimes dating back nearly 40 years, a court heard.

Peter Ball, 83, is accused of sexually assaulting boys and young men around the time he was Bishop of Lewes in the 1970s and 80s.

A 10-week trial is provisionally set to start in the first week of October at a venue yet to be decided, the Old Bailey heard.

Mr Justice Sweeney also confirmed another senior judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, had been allocated to hear the case.

He told the court that it would be up to the trial judge to hear argument on whether Ball, of Aller, near Langport in Somerset, is well enough to stand trial.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.