A priest who had an affair with a married mother-of-four failed to overturn a ruling which banned him from working as a vicar.The Rev David King, 56, from Egton, North Yorkshire, was found to have had an "improper, intimate and physical relationship" with 46-year-old Tracy Byrne.
Mr King was suspended on full pay in February last year after Mrs Byrne's husband James, 52, complained to the Church of England about Mr King's relationship with his wife, which began in December 2004.
Mrs Byrne split up with her husband the same month and he blamed Mr King, who did not leave his wife until July the next year. Both couples are now divorced.
At a hearing in November last year, a Church of England disciplinary tribunal removed him from the position of Vicar of Middle Esk Moor and banned him from working as a vicar for four years.
Mr King was appealing against the penalty before the Chancery Court of York, sitting at Leeds Crown Court last Monday.
The Worshipful Sheila Cameron QC, Auditor of the Chancery Court of York, dismissed the appeal.
Sitting with two other members of the clergy and two laymen she described the case as a "personal tragedy" for Mr King.
However, she dismissed a request by Mr King's counsel for the disgraced vicar to be rebuked for his conduct, saying it would not "reflect the gravity" of his behaviour.
"We feel it is a personal tragedy for Mr King who has served the church and those he ministered with diligence for so many years," she added.
Earlier, John Lodge for Mr King said his client was a highly regarded vicar with "exceptional" pastoral skills.
"He has too much to give to the Church for the Church to cast him away," he told the panel.
Mr Lodge argued his client's behaviour fell short of adultery and the relationship was not with someone who he had pastoral responsibility for.
He said the penalty imposed by the original panel was in effect prohibition for life because of his age.
Mr Lodge added: "The respondent is entitled to be sentenced on the basis that the tribunal could not be satisfied that the conduct of Mr King had destroyed either marriage."
At the original tribunal, the panel posed two alternative explanations for Mr King's behaviour. Firstly that he acted naively and did not realise his behaviour was inappropriate, or secondly, that he was lying about the relationship.
Mr Lodge asked this week's panel to accept the first more favourable explanation and issue a rebuke.
"Let it not be thought by anyone that a rebuke is a soft option. Far from it. It would in effect be a suspension hanging over his head."
Mr Adrian Isles, for the Church of England, said Mr King's behaviour had fallen well below what is expected of a vicar.
He said the risk to the marriages of those in involved was "significant".
"The respondent knew the risks he was running both to his own marriage and the marriage of Mrs Byrne yet he went ahead with the relationship."
He went on to criticise Mr King's lack of remorse, adding: "He has made the bare admissions, both at the tribunal and today through counsel."
Monday's panel took an hour to reach their conclusion.
The Bishop of Whitby, the Right Reverend Robert Ladds, said: "This has been a long and sad process for the parishioners of Middle Esk Moor, for all those hurt by the breakdown of two marriages and for Mr King himself.
"The Chancery Court's decision means that we can now begin to move forward.
"The Archdeacon of Cleveland and I have been in close touch with the parishes of Middle Esk Moor throughout this difficult time and we will begin work with them immediately to appoint a new vicar as soon as possible.
"Together with the parishioners, the churchwardens, the Parochial Church Council members, the Readers and the other serving and retired clergy of the Whitby Deanery, all of whom have done so much to care for and sustain the Middle Esk Moor parishes in the last two years, we will continue to offer every support and our prayers for the future of the churches and the communities they exist to serve."
The hearing at Leeds Crown Court, in November last year, was the first case of a clergy member facing a Church of England disciplinary tribunal since the new Clergy Discipline Measures 2003, which covers allegations of misconduct, came into effect in 2006.
The hearing was told the pair first met when Mrs Byrne went to Mr King's vicarage for counselling after her mother died in 2002.
The tribunal heard how Mrs Byrne's son found a birthday card with a naked man on the front, which the vicar had sent to his mother.
The message inside read: "With very massive love to you and everyday."
Mr King wrote at the bottom: "Am v cross they used my photo without permission!"
There was no sexual intercourse but the tribunal found the relationship went "far beyond holding hands and kissing".
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