John Smyth QC: Decades of abuse covered up by church, report says

Smyth had also worked as a barrister representing morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse whilst he ran the camps for young evangelical Christians.

Reports of his physical abuse of boys were revealed in an investigation by Channel 4 News, external, in February 2017.

The investigation came after a report by the Iwerne Trust in 1982, which was not made public until 2016.

Smyth was confronted about his conduct after the report compiled by Rev Mark Ruston and Rev David Fletcher.

It found Smyth identified pupils from leading public schools including Winchester College and took them to his home near Winchester in Hampshire, where he carried out lashings with a garden cane in his shed.

It said eight of the boys received a total of 14,000 lashes, while two more received 8,000 strokes between them over three years.

The Iwerne Trust called the practice “horrific” but the claims were not reported to police until 2013 – more than 30 years later.

Despite his “appalling” actions having been identified in the 1980s, the report concluded he was never fully exposed and was therefore able to continue his abuse.

He was encouraged to leave the country and moved to Zimbabwe without any referral being made to police.

During this time, church officers “knew of the abuse and failed to prevent further abuse”, the independent review led by Keith Makin says.

It adds: “From July 2013 the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. John Smyth should have been properly and effectively reported to the police in the UK and to relevant authorities in South Africa.

“This represented a further missed opportunity to bring him to justice.”

In Zimbabwe he was charged with the manslaughter of a 16-year-old boy, who was attending one of his summer camps. Smyth was not convicted of the offence.