Bishop of Liverpool denies misconduct allegations

The Bishop of Liverpool has refuted two women's accusations of wrongdoing.The Rt Revd Dr John Perumbalath said he "consistently denied" the allegations and had cooperated with any church investigation in a statement following the initial coverage of the claims by Channel 4."The allegations set out in this programme are in relation to encounters that took place in public settings, with other people present," he stated. He went on to say that the police had "investigated a claim of misconduct made in Essex who took no further action." The bishop also stated that although "I don't believe I have done anything wrong," he would "comply with any investigation deemed necessary" and take "the lessons learned through this process addressing how my actions can be perceived by others" seriously.The Church of England also confirmed that a complaint of alleged misconduct was raised against the bishop early in 2023.It said: "The complaint was looked into according to statutory safeguarding guidance… and an independent risk assessment undertaken.

"This process concluded that there were no ongoing safeguarding concerns, but a learning outcome was identified with which the bishop fully engaged."Shortly after the first complaint, the church added a "further disclosure was made by another woman".The church said the later allegation was "assessed not to be a safeguarding matter but a matter of alleged misconduct".It added the second woman brought her claim too late for action to be taken.

It added that Stephen Cottrell - the Archbishop of York - was involved in supporting the woman.

"He had no part in the decision making around safeguarding or disciplinary matters," the statement said.

Mr Cottrell was criticised last year after a BBC investigation claimed when he was Bishop of Chelmsford, he let priest David Tudor stay in post in the diocese despite knowing he had been banned by the Church from being alone with children and paid compensation to a sexual abuse victim.

He said at the time he was "deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier" but added he "acted immediately" within the authority he had regarding the case.