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The Church of England and the Catholic Church have been condemned after a priest falsely accused of child sex abuse and having sex with men knowing he was HIV positive took his own life.
Father Alan Griffin endured a year of torment over an inquiry about which he was given almost no information.
Coroner Mary Hassell ruled that the 76-year-old cleric had ‘killed himself because he could not cope with an investigation’ and that the allegations against him were ‘supported by no complainant, no witness and no accuser’.
She has written to Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, warning that the C of E had still not recognised its errors: ‘There is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken,’ she said.
Father Alan Griffin, 76, took his own life after he was falsely accused of child sex abuse and having sex with men knowing he was HIV positive
The report has also been sent to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England, whose safeguarding team was also criticised.
Father Griffin was rector of St James Garlickhythe in the City of London and chaplain to the Lord Mayor of London before
