Priest Accused Of Molesting 17 Year-Old Boy During Presbytery Sleepover

A Roman Catholic priest fondled a 17 year-old boy flutist between the legs after treating him to a Wembley Arena opera and Italian meal three decades ago, a court heard yesterday.

Father Reginald Dunkling, 63, allowed the teenager - who played flute in a church band - to sleepover at Our Lady of Muswell in north London.

Wood Green Crown Court heard that during the night he lay on the bedroom floor and forced his hand under the covers, molesting the boy over his boxer shorts.

Dunkling - known as Father Reg - of Chequers End, Gadsden Row, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire has pleaded not guilty to one count of indecently assaulting the boy on a day between April 1992 and April 1993.

“I remember him going through the covers and just stroking me over the top of my shorts. He stroked and stroked and stroked and I just froze,” the complaint told the trial in his video-recorded police interview.

“He was a charismatic, interesting, likeable guy that introduced me to theatres and musicals. Stuff I ended up doing as a living. I kind of idolised him.”

Regarding the Lourdes trip the complainant added: “He asked me to stay in his room, which didn’t seem odd to me. I was very naive.

“He held my hand and told me: ‘I’m in love with you,’ and I kind of froze. He did not touch me at that point, but it was all about how he was in love with me.”

The man did not report Dunkling after the Muswell Hill sleepover two years later. “I remember him being very drunk and I brushed it off a bit, thinking it was a big mistake, but as I got older I became more angry.”

In Court: Father Dunkling

Between those incidents he went on a Tenerife holiday with the defendant and another man. “Father Reg spent time with my family and my mother’s attitude was: ‘He’s a priest, of course he is okay.’

“It is very odd for a 15 year-old boy to go on holiday with two grown men and during it he would shout: ‘You don’t love me.’ It was a very odd couple of weeks.”  

Prosecutor David Harounoff told the jury: “The defendant is a priest and in 2013 the complainant was contacted by the police, who were investigating offences, but he declined to co-operate.

“In 2020 the Diocese of Westminster undertook a safety review and the complainant decided he wanted to co-operate and the police interviewed him.

“As a teenager he was involved with the Church of Our Lady Help of Christians in Kentish Town and developed a relationship with Father Reginald Dunkling.

“He was a gifted flute player in the church band and describes this defendant as charismatic and interesting and he took him to the theatre and to a trip to Lourdes with others.”

Aged just fifteen, the boy was invited into Father Dunkling’s room, where the priest told him: “I’m in love with you,” the jury were told.

There was no physical contact until the night of the Wembley Arena opera, the trial heard.

“When he was 17 years-old he stayed with this priest in Muswell Hill after the show and meal,” explained Mr Harounoff. 

“He says he was asleep when this defendant entered the bedroom and lay on the floor beside him, placed his hand under the bed covers and stroked him over his boxer shorts.

“The complainant said he did not like it and to use his words ‘bolted’ the next morning at 5am.

“Ten years later he saw Father Dunkling at a music function in Hammersmith and says this defendant looked uncomfortable.”

Another witness, who attended the Lourdes trip, will tell the jury he saw a drunken Father Dunkling knocking on the boy’s bedroom door.

He was warned off, but returned five minutes later and knocked on the door again and had to be told to go away for a second time.

“The witness stayed in the hallway until he left the vicinity of the boy’s room,” added the prosecutor.

Father Dunkling was arrested on June 16, 2020. “He was adamant absolutely nothing had happened.”

Trial continues………..

Female Judge: "Boisterous" Bum Grope Excuse Is "Boris Johnsonesque"

A drunken IT specialist’s “boisterous” excuse for groping a young female trainee’s bum during the City tech company’s bonding session was described by a Crown Court Judge as: “Boris Johnsonesque.”

The Moorgate firm funded a free bar at crazy golf venue ‘Swingers’, in the heart of the Square Mile, where business development director Michael Swain, 35, drank heavily along with his colleagues.

When they continued drinking at the nearby ‘Slug & Lettuce’ pub he came behind the 23 year-old trainee, put his hand between her legs and groped her bum - having groped another woman’s rear earlier.

“It is almost a Boris Johnsonesque defence,” said Inner London Crown Court Judge Jane Rowley last week. “We are loaded with money. It’s just a bit of slap and tickle.”

Swain, of Valkyrie Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex had fought the case for four years, but after two hours of damning evidence changed his plea to guilty of one count of sexual assault at the City pub on September 13, 2019.

However, he kept his job with the company, which had a beer tap installed in their office and where he was known as a “high earner”, making it impossible for the young woman to remain.

“It’s a man’s world isn’t it?” added the judge. “It is sad that he is still in denial. He still says it was not a sex assault, not sexually motivated. Men like him don’t appreciate the gravement.”

When she reported Swain to her bosses the following Monday he remained with the company on a final warning after apologising during disciplinary proceedings, but she was so upset she resigned.

He had been married to wife Claudia, who supported him in court, for twelve months when he committed the offence.

“He’s been married a year and he is sexually assaulting a woman,” said Judge Rowley. “He is there groping women. Good luck to his wife, people like that don’t change their spots.

“I can understand why she didn’t want to stay with this gentleman Lording it up over her, after sexually assaulting her.”  

Prosecutor Catherine Donnelly told the court: “She had been there four months as a trainee and as a result had to leave the company because he was kept on.

“There had been daytime drinks and they went to crazy golf. He had been out drinking the night before at a casino, where he won £6,000.

“They were all drinking, including the complainant and Mr Swain asked a female colleague, referring to the victim: “Can I touch her inappropriately?” while playing crazy golf.

“He told the complainant: “I can’t touch you inappropriately,” and the two woman put it down to him being drunk.”

The victim says she refused Swain’s offer of cocaine, but he insists this did not happen.

“Fifteen work colleagues went to the ‘Slug & Lettuce’ and the complainant saw Mr Swain grab another woman’s bottom and half an hour later felt someone grab her bottom and a hand between her legs.

“She was in shock and said: ‘He’s just grabbed my bum,’ and Mr Swain said: ’Sorry, I’ve f***ed up.’

“During the company’s disciplinary proceedings Mr Swain wrote her a letter of apology, claiming he had no memory of the event and was ‘shocked and upset’ with what he had been told.”

When later questioned by police Swain told officers: “If I touched her bum it was due to drunken boisterousness.”

In her victim impact statement the young woman said she worked in a junior role. “Mr Swain was one of the high earners, who brought a lot of business to the company and that’s why he did not lose his job.”

She was unable to find a similar job in the industry and abandoned her career plans in London. “I don’t think Mr Swain has any idea of the consequences of his actions and the impact it has had on my life.

“The fact Mr Swain remained there shows they have placed the financial benefits Mr Swain brings above their moral obligations to me and other female staff members.”

Judge Rowley said: “There are aggravating factors here. He has a previous conviction for failing to provide police a specimen when stopped driving and people like that see themselves above the law and I see a link.

“This defendant arrogantly pleaded not guilty in the face of so many witnesses who saw what he did and that arrogant way of thinking has carried over.

“The arrogance of the man, he had the choice of a police caution and he turned it down. He was a foolish man not to take that caution and it is going to cost him a lot.

“The taxpayer should not pay a penny towards this man’s foolishness of trying to defend the undefendable.”

Swain’s lawyer Sue Obeney said: “He does not come across as an arrogant man. He admitted as soon as this happened that he behaved badly.

“It was a one-off under the influence of alcohol, boisterous behaviour. There is a culture at that company that does not do anyone any favours if they have an alcohol problem.”

Swain is no longer with the company and has set up a recruitment firm and has sought counselling.

Yesterday, (Monday) he was sentenced two two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, ordered to pay £2,500 costs and £500 compensation to the victim.

Swain must also sign the sex offenders register for two years; attend thirty-five days of the Horizon sex offenders programme and complete thirty days of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

Judge Rowley told him: “On that day you were the worse for wear for drink and in front of others groped another woman before turning your attention to the complainant.

“You grabbed her between the legs and two colleagues saw you. She was in shock and cried immediately.

“At the time you acknowledged you did wrong and apologised, saying you did not know what came over you.

“The following Monday she complained to HR and you wrote a letter of apology and money talks and is more important than moral values as eloquently expressed by the complainant.

“There was a big difference in the power and influence you held in that organisation and unsurprisingly the victim left the company and the career opportunity she had.

“The impact on her was great and the pre-sentence report says you are unable to fully accept what you did and in February, 2020 you pleaded not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence.

“There was humiliation of her. She was drunk and vulnerable and you were in a position of responsibility over her.

“There was a hierarchy and you were over her.”

Policeman Jailed For Raping Female Officer

A Metropolitan Police Constable, who raped a WPC after an all-night pub leaving party for a Sergeant, was jailed for four years and six weeks yesterday.

PC Ireland Teddington Murdock, 27, then illegally looked-up the confidential Met CRIS system to see if he had been reported for any offence. 

He was convicted by an Inner London Crown Court jury of one count of raping the female officer in the bedroom of her shared Clapham flat in the early hours of September 25, 2021.

Before the trial he pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorised access to computer material when Murdock says he tried for two minutes to access details of the complaint at 2am.

At the time PC Murdock - known as ‘Ted’ - of Hillside, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, a former police cadet, was attached to the Central North Command Unit, having joined the Met in January, 2019.

Chief Superintendent Andy Carter, head of the Unit said: “Murdock committed an absolutely atrocious offence and caused his victim a lot of pain and fear. He betrayed everything we stand for and I am disgusted by his actions.”

Recorder of Southwark Judge  Usha Karu told Murdock yesterday: “Having been to some leaving drinks you were both intoxicated when you returned to her flat and you forcefully penetrated her.

“You knew full well she had not consented to that and it was sufficient to cause her pain and there was blood on the bedsheets. The WhatsApp messages make it clear there was penetration without consent.

“You checked the police system to see if any crime had been reported against you. It was restricted and you could not access it.

“She has plainly been severely adversely impacted,” added the judge after hearing the victim impact statement in which the victim said: “Reporting what he did was extremely difficult and very isolating at work.

“It felt like I was being treated that being raped made me unfit to do my job.”

The officer was moved to a desk role at another police station. “She said she felt violated emotionally and physically,” added Judge Karu. “She suffered anxiety, heart palpitations and nightmares.”  

Murdock told the trial he started drinking at the Abbey Tavern pub, Kentish Town at 4pm and continued until closing-time when he left with the WPC.

Describing himself as “six out of ten” drunk at the end of the night PC Murdock told the jury the woman joined the party during the evening. “She was bought a drink and bought herself drinks.

“She said she had some catching up to do and at that point I was tipsy,” he explained.

Afterwards, the pair waited for an Uber at a nearby bus stop outside the pub. “She was sitting on my lap. We were kissing and I was touching her over her clothes.”

PC Murdock admitted touching the woman between her legs at the bus stop, while another officer with them was urinating out of sight around the corner.

“She was reciprocating in an enjoyable way and I attempted to put my hand under her clothing, under her jeans, but I stopped because she did not want our colleague to see.”

The female officer told the jury she consented to sexual activity, but not to all of PC Murdock’s behaviour in her bedroom that night.

“I was happy and she seemed to be the same,” he told the court. “We kissed at the end of the bed and started undressing each other.”

PC Murdock said consensual sex followed, denying he raped the woman.

He conceded at one point she “jolted forward” and said: “Ted, woah,” but the sexual activity continued.

PC Murdock stayed the night, but admitted there was a strained atmosphere the following morning.

“I turned towards her to give her a hug and she pushed me away. She said that she was not happy with what happened last night.

“I was confused and I stayed silent for about ten minutes. It is something I do, I clam up.

“I said: ‘I won’t stay here if there’s an atmosphere. Do you want me to leave?’ and then I left.

The pair exchanged tense WhatsApp messages over the following days. “She was implying she was not happy and I believed on the night that she was.

“She was clearly upset and I wanted to fix it,” added PC Murdock, who sent one message to the WPC which read: “You’re wording things like I’m a rapist and that’s p***ing me off.”

Earlier the officer told the jury he changed his middle name by deed poll to ‘Teddington’ because that is the area of south-west London where his late mother was laid to rest.

He said he had a challenging childhood involving an alcoholic mother, foster care and being raised by his older sister.

Since being fired by the Met he worked as a cleaner and landscaper and his engaged to a woman who has supported him throughout the trial.

That was his motivation for the name change in May, 2019, PC Murdock explained. “It was an attempt to cut ties with that part of my family.”

The female officer did not request to be screened from the defendant and told the jury from the witness box: “I said something like: ‘Woah’ or ‘Stop’ I can’t remember.”

She did not report PC Murdock immediately and several month passed before she complained. “I did not feel safe to report it, we were always together,” she told the investigating officers in a  video recorded police interview.

“In a ten day work period we would be together eight or nine days.”

The officer said she had to change her bedsheets after the rape. “I got rid of them right after. There was just a lot of little bloody spots.”

She did not seek any medical treatment, adding: “I did not want to go to a GP and have questions raised. I was embarrassed.

“I was fairly numb to it. There was no proper thought after the incident.”

However, she insisted PC Murdock’s intentions in the bedroom were clear that night. “He was definitely positioning himself and then he tried again.”

She went to work the next day, but said it was a challenging shift. “It was difficult. It hurt to sit down and I was in pain and it was dawning on me what happened.

“He said he did not remember anything because he was so drunk.

“He was drunk that night. His speech was all slurred. He was not falling over or anything, but it was obvious he had quite a lot to drink.

“On the day it happened I rang one of my flatmates to say he did something last night I was not happy with.”

When they woke up that morning PC Murdock admits he went in for a cuddle, but was shunned by the woman. “I told him that he really hurt me last night.”

The trial heard the female officer informally reported PC Murdock for rape to her professional colleagues during a pub quiz night on January 9, 2022 - over three months later.

Fellow officers described her as crying as she revealed the details, saying she was hesitant to say anything earlier because PC Murdock knows where she lives and works and her parents’ address.

The PC Murdock was investigated by the Serious Sexual Offences Department - commonly  known as Sapphire - based at Brixton Police Station.

The jury heard the WhatsApp messages exchanged between PC Murdock and the complainant the day after in which she tells him: “I’m in a stupid amount of pain.”

PC Murdock replied: “You’re treating me like a sex offender,” and: “Just say Ted is a rapist.”

He told his arresting officers: “I didn’t do it. I’m not a rapist,” a court heard.

Yesterday, Murdock’s lawyer Luke Ponte said: “He was proud to join the police to turn away from his upbringing and make a life for himself.

“As the defendant is fragile and as he is going into prison for the first time it resonates with him and this can be taken into account in sentencing. He was noted by the police as a suicide risk on his arrest.”

Judge Karu, remarked on Murdock’s version of events. “I wholly and completely reject that mechanism of how that happened.”

Murdock received four years for the rape, plus six weeks for the unauthorised computer access and must sign the sex offenders register.

His sentenced will be discounted by 44 days due to his time under bail curfew.