THE chief executive of Cumbria Tourist Board has told a church hearing how she cut off all contact with her church following incidents she alleged happened with her Church of England parish priest.

Chris Collier told a hearing in York yesterday how she left Crosscrake church, having previously been very involved, following the alleged advances from the Rev Harry Brown, 49.

Ms Collier was appearing as a witness for the Bishop of Carlisle on the first day of the resumption of Mr Brown's appeal against the revocation of his licence.

Mr Brown's licence was revoked by the Bishop of Carlisle, the Rt Rev Graham Dow, in September 2001 following allegations of what the Carlisle Diocese called sexual harassment, intimidating behaviour and mental abuse, and financial irregularity'. He had always denied the allegations, with the exception of the financial matters which he has already given an account of to the appeal.

The appeal is to the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, and was adjourned after three days in September 2002.

Ms Collier told the hearing how she had been a regular and committed member of Crosscrake church, and had served on the PCC.

She told the hearing in July 1996 she was working from home when Mr Brown, priest-in-charge of Crosscrake and Preston Patrick, arrived to see her. She described how he came across the drive to her house with his arms outstretched, and she felt he was towering over her.

"He was kissing me quite passionately. I just recall he was towering above me, my head was pushed right back, and he had his tongue in my mouth," she said. Ms Collier told the hearing Mr Brown had come to congratulate her on her appointment as chief executive of Cumbria Tourist Board after reading about it in The Westmorland Gazette that day.

Ms Collier described her shock and said that unsure what to do, she went to make a cup of tea. She told the hearing Mr Brown came to sit beside her on the sofa.

"The next thing to happen was that he put his arm around me and started to kiss me again. This time I had my wits about me a little more and I immediately pushed him away and asked him if he would leave."

Ms Collier said the first thing she did after the priest left was to wash her face to remove Mr Brown's saliva.

She also told Geoffrey Tattersall, QC counsel for the Bishop of Carlisle, about an alleged incident during the torchlight parade in Kendal in September 1996. At a party at the offices of solicitor Paul Smith, which she and her husband had dropped into, Ms Collier said the priest had followed her upstairs when she had gone to the toilet.

She told the hearing he knocked on the door and when she emerged he said he wanted to kiss her again.

Ms Collier said she was not very polite, made it clear his approach was very unwelcome and left the party.

Ms Collier said following the first incident in July she had ceased to attend Crosscrake church and cut off contact, because she said she no longer felt she wanted Mr Brown as her spiritual leader.

Ms Collier denied allegations put to her by Mr Brown's counsel, Michael Johnson, that Mr Brown had been counselling her about problems within her marriage. She also denied allegations that she had had a relationship with a man called Peter Fox, claiming that he was a friend. Although since divorced, she said she was very happily married at the time.

Mr Johnson said Mr Brown denied the incident during the torchlight procession.

A legal debate took place about the date that Ms Collier said Mr Brown had been to see her to congratulate her about her new job.

Mr Johnson argued if there was confusion about the date, it was possible Mr Brown could not have known about Ms Collier's new job. This might call into question the whole of her evidence, he alleged.

The Archbishop ruled that Ms Collier should not be asked to return to the hearing at a later date and that Mr Brown had already had time to produce his diary for 1996. Ms Collier also denied that she had at all participated in the kiss in July 1996, saying that she possibly had her mouth open but she had not at all been expecting the advance.

She told the hearing she had never used the phrase French kiss: "If that was a French kiss, I'm surprised it has the popular appeal it has."

When asked by Mr Tattersall why she had come to give evidence Ms Collier said: "It was a matter of my conscience really. Firstly the fact that our local newspaper (The Westmorland Gazette) was covering the case in some detail and it seemed to me was almost beginning to campaign on Harry's behalf.

"I know full well that had it not happened to me and had I not had personal experience of this, I would be supporting Harry as loudly as many of the parishioners were. I just felt they were caring, honest and good people and deserved to at least hear what had happened to me."

She said that she did not think of the possibility that "attempts would be made to discredit me by putting together a whole series of lies."

The hearing continues.

January 3, 2003 09:30