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Man convicted of harassing Worthing vicar (From The Argus)
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Man convicted of harassing Worthing vicar
3:10pm Saturday 31st July 2010
A man who said he would kill a vicar to stop her from becoming a bishop has been convicted of harassment.
Christine Wilson was vicar of St Mary’s Church in Goring, in Worthing, when she began to suffer endless abuse at the hands of Nigel Abraham, last autumn.
Abraham, 50, called Mrs Wilson, who had a terminally ill daughter, “evil”.
On one occasion he even phoned her husband Alan Wilson and told him “the reason your daughter will die is because your wife is very wicked."
The couple’s daughter Sarah died just a few weeks later.
On other occasions he said he would try to kill Mrs Wilson if she became bishop and left her an answer machine message saying she was the “spitting image” of glamour model Jo Guest.
In another call he accused her of being motivated by “sex and ambition”. He also left a message on a church website that said “her only intention is to get to the top.”
She said: "I was alarmed because it looked as if he was starting up a pattern of contacting me again,"
Abraham, who now lives in Leeds, denied harassing the vicar at Leeds Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, but was found guilty.
PC Adam Speight, who arrested him, said Abraham told him: "She is evil and only interested in power. She will never be a bishop. I will do whatever I can to stop her. I would have to kill her if there was ever a chance of her becoming a bishop."
Mrs Wilson made history when she took over the top job in the Parish of Goring in 2008. Grandmother and mother of three Mrs Wilson took up the post in October 2008 and was previously vicar of St John the Baptist Church in Hove.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said they had received a number of reports about the vicar being harassed in October and November last year.
Deputy District Judge Leo Pyle, ordered pre-sentence reports on Abraham but said he was considering a community sentence.
He will be sentenced on August 11.
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Your Say YourArgus
Betty Blue, Brighton says...
3:46pm Sat 31 Jul 10
The man seems mentally ill to go to such lengths to stop Mrs Wilson becoming a bishop,
TheInsider, Brighton says...
5:06pm Sat 31 Jul 10
greggory, Glasgow says...
5:08pm Sat 31 Jul 10
TheInsider wrote:"He cannot be a Christian surely?"
What a disgraceful, cowardly, bullying man. He cannot be a Christian surely?
Do you mean,had he been a Christian,he'd have just done her in, without threatening her first?If you don't mean that,you've obviosly just arrived on planet earth.
TheInsider, Brighton says...
5:29pm Sat 31 Jul 10
We all know there are many rotten eggs in the church.
I went to a CoE school where the week after the headmaster walloped me with a slipper for lying, he ran off with a 16-year-old daughter of one his friends.
I think the 500 children at the school never had much confidence in the church after that.
puddingandpi, Brighton says...
5:29pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Juan Albion, Youngstown says...
5:30pm Sat 31 Jul 10
TheInsider wrote:The question isn't whether you are A Christian, it is whether you ARE Christian. I would think the answer was fairly obvious in this case, whatever the man himself might think.
What a disgraceful, cowardly, bullying man. He cannot be a Christian surely?
PeteBrighton, Brighton says...
5:32pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Tammy Flugh, says...
6:04pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Security word - wish-cash. Apparently a reference to the St Leonards vicar.
Betty Blue, Brighton says...
7:30pm Sat 31 Jul 10
TheInsider wrote:I went to a C of E school and got use to a male vicar. Now in my mature years I find having a female vicar uncomfortable. It is my own fault and I now because of my feels I do not attend church. We live in modern times but I cannot get use to it.
Why do you disagree Betty?
Thank you for asking for asking why I disagree.
Gubbins, says...
9:43pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Back to this nutter, lock him away and throw the key away. He's clearly some sort of religious zealot - the worst kind.
TheInsider, Brighton says...
1:04am Sun 1 Aug 10
whitehawk mick, WHITEHAWK says...
8:29am Sun 1 Aug 10
Its likely that the judge noted this when he did not award a custodial sentence.
rashika, Brighton says...
2:28pm Sun 1 Aug 10
-away-the-key brigade are probably hangers and floggers with a narrow view of justice and are also Daily Mail-style slash and burn public services devotees. They need to make their minds up.
PeteBrighton, Brighton says...
5:04pm Sun 1 Aug 10
Gubbins, says...
7:48am Mon 2 Aug 10
rashika wrote:I don't give a monkeys about cost. He has threatened murder so lock him away for good. Correct on the 'hanging and flogging'. Wrong on the paper. Committed Telegraph reader. Correct on cutting public expenditure except I would go a lot further.
When people advocate custodial sentences do they know how much public money is involved? Some of the lock-em-up-and-throw -away-the-key brigade are probably hangers and floggers with a narrow view of justice and are also Daily Mail-style slash and burn public services devotees. They need to make their minds up.
Man convicted of harassing Worthing vicar
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TheInsider, Brighton says...
3:27pm Sat 31 Jul 10
He cannot be a Christian surely?