Church of England paid off priest who was potential ‘risk to children’

Safeguarding concerns against the priest were said to be an 'open secret' amongst senior clergy

Canon Andrew Hindley worked as Blackburn diocese from 1991 to 2021. He was the subject of five police investigations, including into allegations of sexual assault, but was never charged with any criminal offences.

A BBC investigation found Canon Hindley was offered a £240,000 settlement, but the final amount paid is unknown due to disclosure agreements.

The Church of England said it was settling legal action brought by the priest in response to an earlier Church decision to force him to retire, but BBC News has said it saw evidence the Church tried several times to pay Canon Hindley off over the years.

There had been a number of safeguarding concerns and allegations against Canon Hindley, allegations which were said to be "an open secret" among senior clergy.

Blackburn cathedral's vice-president and head of safeguarding had been warned of “serious safeguarding concerns and allegations” over a priest when she was offered the job in 2018. These claims spanned “a long period of about 25 years”.

A 2009 cathedral inspection found that Canon Hindley "may pose a threat to young men" and to the cathedral’s name.

And Canon Hindley was suspended at least twice by the cathedral, who also banned him from choir school, junior confirmation groups and school visits.

In 2007, the children’s charity the NSPCC said Canon Hindley presented “a risk of significant harm to children and young people” and advised he “should have no unsupervised contact with children or young people”.

Canon Hindley told the BBC he has never presented any safeguarding risk to anyone.

He claims there was a campaign "motivated by homophobia and personal agendas" to drive him from the church. He added that the Church has "allowed its safeguarding procedures to be hijacked, weaponised and misused”.

You can read the full BBC News investigation here.