Paedophile vicar loses appeal

The reverend, now 64, was jailed for five years for offences he committed up to three decades ago while he was parish priest at St Andrew's church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

It was not until July last year that he was brought to justice when he was convicted at Northampton Crown Court when he admitted indecent assault and indecency with a young boy.

His case was heard at the Criminal Appeal Court in London where he claimed he should have been given a lighter sentence due to his good works and character.

But, dismissing his claim, Lord Justice Dyson, sitting with Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Sweeney, said the five year total was fair for the terrible crimes he committed.

The priest, who spent 12 years at St John The Baptist Church in Sedlescombe, had subjected a boy to years of abuse - beginning before he had reached his teens.

He also groped another boy - the victim of a paedophile priest friend - after a night in which the two clergymen plied him with alcohol.

Sentencing him, the Crown Court judge said that he considered the offences deserved a term of seven and a half years, but that would be reduced by a third, routinely granted to reward offenders for guilty pleas.

Lawyers for Pritchard argued that the judge had not given him credit for his substantial personal mitigation which should have reduced the figure further.

That included his many years as a respected parish priest who was highly regarded locally as a man of integrity. Written supporting statements described a very different person to the one who molested the boys.

But after considering the argument Lord Justice Dyson said: "It seems to us that the judge clearly took into account the personal mitigation in reaching the conclusion that, if he had contested these charges, he would have imposed a total sentence of seven and a half years imprisonment.

"He took into account the mitigation and the unquestionably grave aggravating factors that existed in this case in arriving at that figure.

"It then remained for him only to reduce that figure to reflect the credit that he was entitled to receive for his pleas of guilty."