THE handling of a young clergyman’s complaint of alleged sexual misconduct by a churchman was a clear example of “brushing something under the carpet”, a court was told.

As the Venerable Granville Gibson, he went onto become Archdeacon of Auckland, one of the most senior posts within the Durham diocese.

The church novice made the allegation to a former Bishop of Durham, John Habgood, about Granville Gibson, who was then minister at St Clare’s Church, in Newton Aycliffe, in the early 1980s.

Durham Crown Court heard that he raised, “concerns over the behaviour” of the parish vicar.

Prosecutor Paul Cleasby said the Bishop later got back to the complainant and told him he had spoken to Gibson, who denied doing anything inappropriate.

“He was told that was to be the end of the matter and there was to be no further investigation,” said Mr Cleasby.

“Asked why they could not take his (the complainant’s) word for it, he was told he was causing trouble and he would be better off in a new job.”

Mr Cleasby told the court: “The prosecution say a more clear example of brushing something under the carpet you could not wish to find.”

He was told to keep away from church property and, as a result, the young clergyman felt his place in the Church was untenable.

Mr Cleasby said, feeling “let down” that what he claimed Gibson had done to him had not been acted on, he left his post and found a new job.

It was only more than three decades later, when Gibson was facing further allegations about sexual misconduct, relating to two male teenagers, that the complainant contacted Durham Police and said he had information, “which could be relevant to the investigation”, in June last year.

Mr Cleasby was making his opening remarks at the start of the prosecution case against the defendant, who as The Venerable George Gibson, served as Archdeacon of Auckland from 1993 to 2001.

The 80-year-old, retired cleric, now of Darlington, denies nine charges, eight of indecent assault and another serious sexual offence.

All were said to have taken place in the late 1970s and early eighties and relate to three complainants, two teenagers at the time, and other in his mid-20s.

Mr Cleasby told the jury: “This is a case of sexual abuse and these type of offences arise when someone in a position of power has the opportunity to commit offences.

“The abuser has a veneer of respectability and target who they do because the victims are vulnerable and less likely to be believed.

“It’s sinister and deliberate abuse, say the prosecution.”

The court heard one of the alleged indecent assaults took place when Gibson visited a teenage victim of earlier alleged abuse, two days after he was admitted to the now defunct Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett.

Giving evidence on the first day of the trial, that alleged victim, now in his mid-50s, told the court that following his experiences at the hands of Gibson, being admitted to Medomsley was, “like going from the frying pan to the fire”.

He said it left him feeling “sick”, as he was, “bruised, battered, shocked and very alone, and, very vulnerable.”

He added: “Forty years I kept that bottled up. Forty years and I’m still suffering.”

The trial continues.