THE former Archbishop of Canterbury has accused the Church of England of acting like a “kangaroo court” in its handling of a historic sex abuse case.

In a debate in the House of Lords on historic sexual offences, Lord Carey said he was “deeply unhappy” with the process the Church had undertaken in the case of wartime Bishop of Chichester George Bell and said there was a case for a new approach to be taken in dealing with historic sex offences.

In October, the Diocese of Chichester announced it had paid a settlement to an unnamed survivor of sexual abuse after accusations levelled against the wartime head of the Church in Sussex, who died in 1958. His victim was five at the time.

Former Archbishop Lord Carey said: “I am distressed to make this observation of my own Church but it seems to me in this particular instance its procedures have had the character of a kangaroo court and not a just, compassionate and balanced investigation of the facts.”

This week the Church announced that a standard review of the process will start shortly.