Alan Elsworth turned on innocent priest after history of abuse in Catholic child care homes

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Elsworth was arrested for causing fear and harassment when he confronted the innocent priest in front of his congregation in April last year, Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard.

Elsworth pleaded guilty to the charge.

In mitigation, Lee Goodchild said: “This is a very difficult case because there is a complex background to all of this. The priest was picked simply because he is a representative of the Catholic Church.

“Mr Elsworth was a child in care homes run by the Church and he was sexually and physically abused over a number of years. He was passed from home to home and was continually abused.”

Mr Goodchild said the pressure from his wife to attend church resulted in the collapse of his marriage and him falling ill.

Elsworth went to the authorities to make a complaint and the priest, who was being investigated as a result, died before its conclusion – resulting in the defendant turning his attention to the innocent priest.

Mr Goodchild added: “There was a number of incidents involving the priest and the situation got to the point where Mr Elsworth went to the church and spoke out during Mass.

“He is clearly a troubled individual and has been advised to move on from this because it is not the best way of dealing with the situation.”

Elsworth, now of Redcar Road, Guisborough, was given a 12- month conditional discharge and was issued with a restraining order forbidding him from harassing the priest for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay £100 towards court costs.

Chairwoman of the bench Alison Monkley said: “This is an unusual case because the defendant does have my sympathy, but the way he acted was not acceptable.”