STOKE-ON-TRENT (UNITED KINGDOM)
Stoke on Trent Live [Stoke on Trent, UK]
January 15, 2026
By Hayley Parker
Father Bede was a pillar of the community but behind closed doors he preyed on little boys
To many, Father Bede was a pillar of the community offering spiritual guidance to thousands of Catholics in North Staffordshire. But behind the veneer of robed respectability, he was a predatory paedophile who targeted young boys.
His despicable crimes stretched over decades, from when he worked in children’s homes in the 1970s and continuing after he was ordained in 1979.
More details emerged just this week as the now 72-year-old – full name Alexander Bede Walsh – was convicted of another historic offence of abusing a boy at a church in Cheadle in the 1980s.
He had arrived in North Staffordshire in 1985 as procurator and priest-in-charge at the now defunct Cotton College. He lived in Mow Cop for a time and also worked in Newcastle, Burslem and Alton.
But it was in Cheadle, where he became the parish priest of the famous St Giles’ Church, in 1987, where he became a central figure of town life.
He was a chaplain and governor at Painsley Catholic College and other feeder schools. It is shocking in hindsight that he ran his own sweet shop and would host regular discos. He ran an award-winning cafe called Church Gate Tea Shop in Chapel Street, across the road from the church, known as Pugin’s Gem.
He remained in Cheadle until 1999 when he was moved to serve at St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham.
But suspicions of his sexual interest in children soon caught up with him at the age of 51 in 2004 when he was accused of 17 counts of making indecent photographs of children.
The priest initially denied any wrongdoing but went on to plead guilty. A court heard that a police investigation was launched after a man looking over his shoulder on a train saw what he believed to be unsuitable material on Walsh’s computer and reported it. Images were discovered of young boys wearing nappies and swimming trunks.
An Archdiocese of Birmingham spokesman said at the time: “This news will come as a great shock and be most distressing for those who have known Father Bede Walsh, especially those he has served as a priest during the past 25 years.”
There were still people who refused to believe he could hide such a dark secret life.
The Sentinel’s letter page was bombarded with notes from angry readers. One wrote: “I was dismayed by the headlines in your newspaper concerning the sentencing of Father Bede Walsh. These, in my view, were over-sensationalised and totally unnecessary.
“Father Bede served the community (not only Catholics) with great distinction during his time in Cheadle, and is still held in the highest regard by the people of this area.
“The trial judge, who was in possession of all the evidence, showed a great deal more sympathy and compassion than that received from your newspaper. I do not for one minute condone what he is alleged to have done, or deny the right of your newspaper to print the news, but a greater balance in your headlines and reporting would be more appreciated.”
The editor responded: “We are satisfied that the story was covered without bias or sensationalism. We are of the view that Father Walsh was treated in exactly the same way as any other person in those circumstances.”
Further horrors would emerge.
In 2011, Walsh – then aged 58 – was back in court and the following year, a jury found him guilty of two serious sexual offences and 19 counts of indecent assault against eight boys. He was acquitted of six charges. The offences against boys aged between eight and 16 happened while Walsh was working in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Coventry.
His first two victims made their complaints in 2006 and the rest came forward between 2008 and 2011. The court heard Walsh, was seen as a ‘father figure and guardian’ to his victims. His first victim came into contact with Walsh in a children’s home. He told police that nuns and priests at the home were like their new parents and told the court: “They were the only people we could look up to.”
The man said he often saw Walsh in rooms alone with boys and on one occasion touched his private areas above his clothes.
A second witness told the court that Walsh was ‘very popular’ when he became a priest at his local church. He said Walsh befriended his family. The witness said Walsh would try to touch his crotch area when tickling him and made another attempt while he was ill in bed once.
Other incidents happened during swimming trips. A witness told the court Walsh would indecently assault him in the pool and claimed pictures were taken of boys in states of undress in the changing rooms. The man said the incidents left him angry and frustrated because he didn’t think anyone would listen to him if he said anything.
He said he told a friend’s parents about his concerns years later but was told to ‘shut up and not tell such horrible tales’. Sharing his ordeal during the trial, one victim said: “When you lose your sexual innocence at such an early age it is something you can’t get back. I lost my teenage years because of what happened, I couldn’t interact with girls and I felt like a pervert myself.”
Another victim described Walsh as a ‘nice, gentle, kind man’. But he said Walsh indecently assaulted him in his bedroom on a number of occasions while he was off school sick. At the time, he felt ‘honoured’ to be touched by what he thought was the hand of God and said he thought it put him ‘on the path to God’.
Another told the court he was plied with a cocktail of spirits and was told he was drinking the blood of Christ in a communion-like ceremony before being indecently assaulted.
Following his convictions, one shocked church-goer told The Sentinel: “He was always an eccentric man, but he had the town eating out of his hand. He had his own sweet shop and ran his own children’s disco and no-one ever batted an eyelid.
“What a complex person that in one moment he might pull off a remarkable act of charity or preach so eloquently from the Bible, while in the next who-knows-what was going on behind closed doors.”
Walsh is already serving a 22-year prison sentence at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire for those crimes.
But he was back at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court this week as a jury again found him guilty of indecent assault against a boy. He is due to be sentenced at a later date.
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