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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Harriet Sherwood

C of E vicar ‘spiritually abused’ parishioners for 20 years, report finds

Michael Hall
Parishioners described Michael Hall as a bully ‘who used coercion and control to silence dissent’. Photograph: St Margarets, Tyler Green

A Church of England vicar “spiritually abused” members of his congregation for almost 20 years, silencing dissent, commanding obedience, belittling and humiliating parishioners, locking people in rooms, and causing fear and shame, a report has concluded.

The Rev Michael Hall retired as vicar of St Margaret’s church in Tylers Green, Buckinghamshire, in 2000 and died in 2021. One of his former parishioners killed himself in 2020, citing “trauma caused by Rev Hall” more than two decades earlier.

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