BishopAccountability.org
	Saucy Priest Banned By Phil Doherty Sunday Sun November 25, 2007 http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/sundaysun/news/tm_headline=saucy-priest-banned&method=full&objectid=20156800&siteid=50081-name_page.html A NORTH vicar who sent saucy cards and letters to a parishioner's wife has been barred from acting as a priest for four years. Reverend David King, 54, of Egton, North Yorkshire, was found to have had an "improper, intimate and physical relationship" with Tracy Byrne, 47, a married mum of four. However, a Church of England tribunal at Leeds Crown Court accepted the 2004 relationship was not sexual. Mr King's lawyer, John Lodge, said his client, a father of three, would carry "the mark of Cain" on him. The court heard Mrs Byrne's son found a birthday card the vicar had sent his mother, featuring a naked man. Inside were the words: "With very massive love to you today and every day. Dave xxxxxx." In the same month of the relationship Mrs Byrne left her husband, who blamed the vicar for the breakdown of the marriage and complained to the Church of England. The tribunal accepted that even though the woman was not a parishioner, the vicar was wrong to have become involved in a relationship with her. Chairman Geoffrey Tattersall QC, said: "Your relationship . . . was plainly wrong and wholly inconsistent with your holy orders. John Lodge, defending, said being suspended as a vicar would be a stain upon his record. The Bishop of Whitby, the Right Reverend Robert Ladds, said: "The Church of England expects the highest standards from its clergy in their professional and personal lives. The tribunal's decision makes unhappy reading for those directly affected by Mr King's conduct ."
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