UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society
Posted: Tue, 19 Jul 2016 by Richard Scorer
Church documents expose an even bigger cover-up than suspected in the Peter Ball case
The recent release of more internal Church of England documents relating to the Peter Ball case exposes an even bigger cover-up than previously suspected, writes specialist abuse lawyer Richard Scorer.
To recap: Peter Ball was a prominent Church of England Bishop who served from 1977 to 1991 as Bishop of Lewes (part of the now notorious Chichester diocese) and then, until his resignation in 1993, as Bishop of Gloucester. Ball was more than just another Bishop, however: exceptionally well connected in establishment circles, he was a personal friend of Prince Charles and dined regularly with Margaret Thatcher. In 1992 Ball was investigated by the police for sexual offences against a 15 year old boy, Neil Todd. There followed an extraordinary campaign in support of Ball: nearly 2000 letters of support including from many prominent establishment figures. In March 1993, on the basis that the Todd offence was a one-off lapse, Ball was let off with a caution. He resigned as Bishop of Gloucester, but continued to officiate at church services. The suspicion persisted, however, that Ball had committed many other offences. Eventually, in 2015, following a second police inquiry, he was convicted of multiple sexual crimes spanning several decades, and imprisoned.
Yet the question remains: what did the Church of England know about Ball’s criminal behaviour, and when did it have that knowledge? In early 1993, when Ball was being investigated for the Todd offence, the then Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey wrote to the Chief Constable of Gloucester. The Todd allegation, Carey suggested, seemed “most improbable”. Carey went on: “if he (Ball) is guilty of unprofessional behaviour it is quite unrepresentative of his style”. Whilst noting that “special pleading” on Ball’s behalf would be “entirely inappropriate”, Carey went on to explain to the Chief Constable that he felt “justified in drawing to your attention the excruciating pain and torment ” which these allegations have inevitably brought upon Ball, whom Carey described in the letter as an “honourable man, firmly concerned for the welfare of young people”.
We have long suspected that at the time Carey’s letter was written – in February 1993 – the Church of England had far more information about Ball’s sexual offending than it had disclosed publicly, or indeed shared with police and prosecutors. Earlier this year, in oral submissions to the Goddard inquiry, I highlighted that another man – I called him AB – had written to Archbishop Carey in late 1992 to express concern about an incident 10 years earlier in which Ball had indecently assaulted him. We know from documents released in March that AB’s allegation was considered in late 1992 by Carey’s then chief of staff, the Right Rev Ronald Gordon. Gordon did not pursue it further; his notes of a meeting at which it was discussed indicate that he considered further investigation unnecessary because “there is already enough evidence to suggest a picture of what has been happening”. By implication, the Church of England at that time already had extensive knowledge of allegations against Ball. AB’s letter was never shared with the police- one reason, I explained, why Ball escaped justice for another 20 years.
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