A PAEDOPHILE who used his position at a church to abuse boys as part of a sex gang has been jailed for three and a half years.

Ian Coulthart, 62, of Kingswood Street, Brighton, was convicted of buggery as part of the systematic abuse of boys between the late 1970s and mid-80s in south east London along with four other men.

The offences relate to four victims, aged between eight and 16 when the abuse started in the 1970s, who were all members of St Bartholomew’s Church in Sydenham, London.

The court heard Tony Brockhurst was choirmaster at the church between 1970 and 1980.

Brockhurst, who died in 2007, introduced the victims to some of the defendants.

The paedophile ring then groomed the victims by buying them gifts and takeaway food in a bid to gain their trust.

They also plied one victim with alcohol before subjecting him to serious sexual abuse.

The offences tended to take place at defendants’ homes before one victim found the courage to report the offences in 2011, when the defendants were arrested.

Coulthart was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on August 29.