AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald
IAN KIRKWOOD
8 Aug 2016
A SOLICITOR and former trustee of the Anglican DIocese of Newcastle has admitted tearing up the original 1990 resignation of paedophile priest Stephen Hatley Gray, which was then replaced with one dated the day before Gray was charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy.
Central Coast solicitor Keith Allen, who began giving evidence to the Royal Commission on Friday, was again subjected to an intense examination by the commission’s chairman, Peter McClellan, and counsel assisting, Naomi Sharp.
The resignation letter of the disgraced priest Gray has featured in several segments of evidence so far.
In evidence last week, retired former Newcastle assistant Bishop Richard Appleby insisted he was instructed by his bishop, Bishop Holland, to drive to the Central Coast to obtain the resignation after a wild party at the church rectory.
But in Mr Allen’s evidence, it emerged that the letter discussed by Bishop Appleby in evidence – and shown to the commission as being hand-written on church letterhead – may not have been the original letter.
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