PAYING a six-figure sum to a canon of Blackburn Cathedral who had been assessed as a risk to children and young people was the “only option” for his removal, a former Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Julian Henderson, has told the BBC.
Findings from a two-year BBC investigation, published on Tuesday, revealed that Canon Andrew Hindley was forced to retire by Bishop Henderson in 2021, and that a six-figure sum was paid to settle a subsequent legal challenge. Canon Hindley has insisted that he never posed a danger to young people or has been a safeguarding risk.
In a statement, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York said: “We absolutely believe that there is no place in ministry for people who are a risk or pose a risk to others, and continue to work to ensure that our systems are made ever stronger and more robust.”
A Church House spokesperson said that the case was “complicated and very difficult for everyone involved, particularly those who came forward”.
A 2003 report by the children’s charity NSPCC said that Canon Hindley presented a “risk of significant harm to children and young people”. He challenged the findings of the report, and, in 2007, commissioned a review by a social-work researcher. It concluded that “it would be hard to sustain an argument of predatory targeting behaviour”, but that Canon Hindley “needs support on developing his boundaries in relation to work with children”.
A 2020 report by a consultant clinical psychologist said that Canon Hindley was a “low to moderate risk of future inappropriate sexual behaviour”, and that this would increase if he spent “prolonged periods of time alone in the company of young males”.
During his ministry in the diocese of Blackburn — which began in 1991, as Rector of St Wilfrid’s, Ribchester, before he moved to Blackburn Cathedral as a residentiary canon in 1996 — Canon Hindley was the subject of five police investigations. He was also suspended on several occasions.
The BBC quotes Lancashire Police saying that it had assessed all available information, and “where evidence was available, investigations were undertaken and advice sought from the Crown Prosecution Service”, but that “this did not result in any charges being brought”. Among the allegations were two of sex with under-aged boys, denied by him and the boys. Canon Hindley has suggested that complaints against him were motivated by homophobia.
Because Canon Hindley held office under freehold, he could be removed only under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM); the BBC reports that several attempts were made to bring a case.
One occasion, detailed on Tuesday evening’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s File on 4, related to Canon Hindley’s conduct at a drinks party in the cathedral gardens, at which he was accused of indecently assaulting a woman, kissing an under-age girl, and improperly touching two men.
Canon Hindley denied assaulting anyone, but, according to the BBC, admitted that he “didn’t cover himself in glory”.
The judge who dismissed an action under the CDM ruled that “some alcohol appeared to flow pretty freely, and, while alcohol provides no defence to assault, for assault to be constituted there has to be some degree of deliberation.”
Other allegations were not taken to tribunal because they were more than a year old, and permission to proceed was not granted by the judge.
The failure to remove Canon Hindley by means of the CDM caused “devastation” in the diocese, a spokesman said, and it left a “shadow sitting over the cathedral for years”.
According to the BBC report, Bishop Henderson and his two suffragans complained to the Archbishops about their inability to remove Canon Hindley. In a letter sent in May 2020, they alleged that “strings have been pulled and networks have been used to effect Canon Hindley’s ongoing ministry”.
Bishop Henderson told the BBC that it was “almost impossible to understand” why attempts to bring a case under the CDM had failed, and that “it was natural to wonder whether other factors had been called into play that we knew nothing about”.
In 2011, the system of freehold was reformed, but those whose posts dated from 2007 or before were unaffected (News, 26 January 2011).
Other attempts to force Canon Hindley out were reportedly also considered by the Archbishops and senior figures in the diocese — including leaking information to the press, and even closing the cathedral.
Eventually, Canon Hindley was removed from office by Bishop Henderson in 2021 under the Church Dignitaries (Retirement) Measure 1949. The Measure gives a diocesan bishop, in conjunction with a cathedral chapter, the power to remove a person who is “unable through disability arising from age or infirmity (whether bodily or mental) to discharge adequately the duties attaching to his office”.
Canon Hindley brought a claim in the High Court for a judicial review of this decision, which was headed off by the payment of an undisclosed amount. BBC News reports that a figure of £240,000 had been offered and turned down in 2022. Both parties are said to have signed a non-disclosure agreement about the final sum.
“Our hands were tied in this case,” the present Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Revd Philip North, said on Tuesday morning.
In an interview on BBC Radio Lancashire, he said that changes were needed to clergy “terms and conditions”, as well as those currently under way with the system for clergy discipline, but that steps had already been taken to improve safeguarding.
Bishop North said that he felt “awful for survivors of abuse”, and “embarrassed and ashamed” about the situation with Canon Hindley. Asked whether the Church of England was safe, he said that “no organisation in the world” is completely safe, but that “parishes make safeguarding a priority”.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Archbishops said that the case “highlights the complexity of our structures and processes, and is just one example of why we asked Professor Alexis Jay, the former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, to provide options and recommendations for how further independence of safeguarding within the Church of England might be achieved” (News, 21 February).
Proposals for changes to the C of E’s safeguarding structures are expected to be brought to the February 2025 meeting of the General Synod. The replacement of the CDM with the new Clergy Conduct Measure is currently in its final stages of drafting (General Synod Digest, 12 July).
Canon Hindley was approached for comment.
The BBC investigation for File on 4 is available on Sounds.