UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph
Patrick Foster Nicola Harley Peta Thornycroft, johannesburg
2 FEBRUARY 2017
A former friend of the Archbishop of Canterbury who left Britain amidst child abuse claims was later charged with killing a teenage boy in Zimbabwe.
Hampshire Police yesterday launched an investigation into claims that John Smyth QC, described by the Most Rev Justin Welby as a “charming and delightful” man, forced young men to endure savage sado-masochistic beatings after grooming them at Christian holiday camps in the late Seventies.
Channel 4 News will tonight report that Mr Smyth, who left Britain after the abuse claims emerged, went on to face charges of killing a 16-year-old boy who was found dead in a swimming pool at a Zimbabwean holiday camp.
The barrister was also accused of swimming naked with Zimbabwean teenagers, showering with them in the nude, and encouraging them to talk about masturbation.
One alleged victim told the broadcaster that Mr Smyth administered savage beatings with wooden bats, in a chilling echo of the allegations made against him in Britain.
Mr Smyth, 75, was the head of the Christian charity the Iwerne Trust in the late Seventies, when he ran holiday camps for boys from elite public schools that were also attended by the Archbishop.
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