A reverend failed to become ordained after allegedly stalking a woman he met at priest school for years, a tribunal heard.
The Rev David Green became “obsessed” with the woman he met at a theological college and sent her reams of messages that made her “uncomfortable”.
Staff at Ripon College Cuddesdon, near Oxford, had to enforce a communication ban after he became “infatuated” with the woman, but he still persisted in contacting her.
Even after he finished his course at the Church of England college in 2019, the Rev Green continued to bombard her with “essays” while he was undertaking his curacy with the Diocese of Lichfield in Staffordshire.
People close to the Rev Green – a married father – reported to his alleged stalking the Diocese’s safeguarding officer when the situation had “grown unmanageable” and they were worried he was a “risk”.
The tribunal heard that although he was ordained as a Deacon, the Rev Green’s behaviour stopped him from becoming ordained as a priest.
It found that if the Rev Green had “focused on his ministry then it is likely he would have been ordained priest”, but he was too “obsessed and fixated” on what happened with the woman he allegedly stalked.
The Rev David Green continued to message his classmate after he finished his course at Ripon College Cuddesdon in 2019 Credit: David Fisher
Details about the Rev Green’s behaviour emerged at an employment tribunal in Manchester after he attempted to sue the Diocese of Lichfield for whistleblowing detriment. He lost his case.
During his time at Ripon College he befriended a female student, who cannot be named for legal reasons and is referred to only as Person B.
In January 2019, the woman reported the Rev Green’s report to one of the tutors at the college that she had received “extensive and inappropriate” emails from him.
The Rev Dr Sarah Brush said she thought he was “infatuated” with the fellow student and suggested that he undertake counselling because his behaviour “would be wildly inappropriate in a pastoral relationship with a parishioner or any future colleagues”.
He was also told to stop contacting the student, but he continued through email and Facebook. The college then banned him from communicating with the woman, which he said was “unjust”.
After completing the college course, he became the assistant curate to the Longnor Benefice under the Diocese of Lichfield.
Bombarding classmate with messages
During his curacy, the Rev Green was invited to attend a deacon ordination by a former coursemate, where the woman he allegedly stalked would also be ordained.
Before the ceremony, the Rev Green’s wife was contacted by a classmate and was told that she would be allowed to attend but he would not be welcome because of his behaviour. Despite this, he attended the ceremony with his wife and children.
In November 2019, he sent the woman an email asking her if she wanted to talk to him again. When she did not reply to the email, he started bombarding her with messages on WhatsApp.
A group of coursemates then sent a letter to Neil Spiring, the Lichfield Diocesan safeguarding adviser, about his behaviour.
Although he was told to stop messaging the woman, he sent a 4,800-word “essay” to her in February 2020.
His behaviour was escalated to the Rt Rev Michael Ipgrave, the Bishop of Lichfield, at which point the Rev Green’s ordination as a priest was delayed.
A ‘safeguarding concern’
The Rev Green claimed he was subjected to detriments for whistleblowing over a series of unrelated complaints he made to the Diocese.
But at the Manchester Employment Tribunal, Employment Judge Callum Cowx said: “Rev Green’s priesting was delayed because of legitimate concerns by the Bishop of Lichfield and his team within the Diocese that [Rev Green] was not meeting the Formation Criteria and was a safeguarding concern.
“Although [the Rev Green] experienced detriments, they were entirely justified by [his] failure to meet the required standards set by the Church of England.”
Speaking after the case, the Rev Green said: “I am of the view that I did behave towards her in a somewhat strange, or weird way at the time, and that she felt some degree of discomfort was understandable.
“I am of the opinion that the kind of friendship I tried to make clear to her I wanted would have been inappropriate if there was an imbalance of power, but in mitigation we were peers at theological college, and I had checked with my wife prior to asking.
“At the material time, when the college imposed restrictions on me, I was undergoing an acute stress reaction ... with hypervigilant symptoms.”
He added: “There is simply no way I would have ever attempted to contact someone I knew had made a harassment or stalking allegation about me against their will without very good reason.”
He now works as a mental health support and volunteers as a Senior Waterways Chaplain.