CHRIS BRAIN, the founder of a Sheffield “rave church” movement, the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), has been found guilty of indecent assaults against nine women.

On Wednesday afternoon, the jury at Inner London Crown Court returned verdicts on 32 of the 37 charges, finding Mr Brain, 68, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, guilty on 17 charges of indecent assault, and not guilty on 15 further charges.

The jury, which has been deliberating since Tuesday of last week, is due to reconvene on Thursday to continue its consideration of a further four charges of indecent assault and one of rape.

In a short statement, a spokesperson for the Church of England said that they would comment further when verdicts on all of the charges had been delivered. “We recognise this will be a difficult time for many,” the statement said, and pointed readers to support available via the diocese of Sheffield website.

The assaults of which Mr Brain was found guilty on Wednesday were committed in the 1980s and 1990s. The NOS, which Mr Brain led, began in Sheffield in 1986 and was celebrated for its ability to draw crowds of young people. But it collapsed in 1995 over allegations about Mr Brain’s behaviour, and concerns about a “cult-like” atmosphere.

The court heard that some of the victims had been part of a “homebase team” who looked after Mr Brain and his family, and that they became known as the “Lycra nuns”, owing to their tight-fitting clothes (News, 8 August).

During the trial, Mr Brain admitted to having had sexual interactions with some of the women, but said that these incidents had been consensual. The prosecution barrister, Tim Clark KC, however, suggested that “any capacity they had to consent had been removed by the domineering nature of the defendant, by his control over their entire lives, and by their absolute terror of being ostracised.”