A PENSIONER convicted of harassing a Monk Bretton vicar has had his appeal dismissed by a judge who instead extended his sentence following a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court.
Jack Brown, 81, of Lamb Lane, Monk Bretton, was earlier this year found guilty of sending letters to Fr Brian Bell, of St Paul’s Church, and other notable figures including the Archbishop of York John Sentamu and Pope Francis questioning Fr Bell’s sexuality.
Although he chose not to give evidence during his appeal on Thursday and Friday, at his original trial Brown a former county councillor told the court homosexuality had ‘no place’ in the Church of England and accused Fr Bell of being a ‘sodomite’.
Brown had pleaded not guilty to harassing the vicar via more than a dozen letters sent from October 27, 2016 to September 18, 2017.
He was given eight weeks’ custody, which was suspended for 12 months, and an indefinite restraining order by Deputy District Judge Paul Healey in May while he was also ordered to pay court costs of £620 and a £115 victim surcharge.
Brown sought to have the conviction overturned but last Friday Judge Felicity Davies opted to uphold the decision and extended his sentence to 18 weeks’ custody, suspended for two years.
The restraining order which prevents him from entering the grounds of St Paul’s or from contacting Fr Bell remains in place, and he was told to pay a further £620 in court costs for last week’s hearing.
Judge Davies told Brown: “Despite Fr Bell asking you to stop sending him letters, you continued and failed to be deterred even when a solicitor and the police became involved.
“As time went on, the letters became more threatening, abusive and insulting. This caused substantial alarm and distress to Fr Bell who was new in the post at the time.
“You’ve shown no remorse and I am satisfied you knew your behaviour amounted to serious harassment.
“You deliberately set out to hound Fr Bell and sent not only grossly offensive letters to him but also to others in a campaign to get him out.”
Fr Bell, who began his role at St Paul’s in June 2016, said he had endured sleepless nights due to Brown’s unrelenting questioning of his sexuality.
He said: “One letter said that if I didn’t respond, he would presume the answer to the question was ‘yes’. It caused considerable distress I wondered why he was doing it and what the purpose was.
“I am a private person so whether I am homosexual or not is irrelevant. He purposely made inroads into someone’s private life to cause distress.
“I read a line in one letter saying that ‘if he is homosexual, I demand his resignation’. These were sent to not only me, but senior figures within the Church of England.
“I was in the process of establishing myself within the community and trying to build relationships, so I had a great fear that my reputation was being sullied and I was being forced into what he wanted me to do which was leave.
“It caused great turmoil and as each letter arrived the pressure increased and it did not appear like it would stop. I still can’t get my head around it two years later.
“My position was becoming untenable as Mr Brown’s claims were in the public sphere. I was worried and also worried what people’s reactions would be. It was a very anxious time but the vindictive campaign did not stop.
“The language used in the letters was repulsive, disturbing and disgusting.”
Duncan Smith, defending Brown, said his client wished to enter debate and that he felt he had a right to know about Fr Bell’s sexuality an opinion dismissed as ‘irrelevant’ by Judge Davies.
