Court rules sacked vicar must leave vicarage

The Bishops of Lichfield and Wolverhampton and the Archdeacon of Walsall have been awarded possession of a West Bromwich vicarage by Birmingham County Court.

The church leaders brought a claim in the court to recover possession of the vicarage of the Good Shepherd with Saint John after the former vicar, the Rev Patrick Okechi, refused to move out.

In December 2008, Mr Okechi was removed from office and barred from serving as a priest for 10 years after a Church of England tribunal ruled hat he had behaved with “conduct unbecoming to the office and work of a clerk in holy orders” by having an affair with a parishioner.

In response to the judgement, Gavin Drake, director of communications for the Diocese of Lichfield, said: “Legally, a vicarage is owned by the vicar, or incumbent, whilst he remains as incumbent. In this case there is no incumbent.

"Our action was not based on a claim that the bishops and archdeacon have ownership of the property; but that they had the rights to posses the property."

When a new vicar is installed, the archdeacon hands them the ‘temporalities of the benefice’ - the keys to the church and vicarage, and the title to any church property passes to him. In order to hand them over to the new vicar, the archdeacon must first have possession of them.

Mr Drake said: "The case law showed that the bishop had the right to possession as soon as Dr Okechi was removed from office in December.”

He welcomed the outcome of the hearing, saying it would enable the church to move swiftly with the appointment of a new vicar for the parish.

“We are naturally sorry that we have to take legal action to gain possession of the vicarage, but we have to consider the needs of the parish of the Good Shepherd," he said.

"We have always been mindful of the circumstances of the family and are happy that 28 days have been given to vacate the vicarage," said Mr Drake.

"It is essential that we appoint a new vicar as soon as possible so the parish can put this sorry affair behind them and move forward.”

Parishioners of the Good Shepherd have been without a vicar since Mr Okechi was suspended in August 2006 and while an interim minister was appointed to assist the parish during this time, he has now moved on.

Mr Okechi has also filed for reinstatement at an Employment Tribunal, a move that is not being supported by the Diocese of Lichfield.

Mr Drake said: “We were pleased to note the judge’s comments at the first hearing that Mr Okechi’s likelihood of being reinstated by an Employment Tribunal is ‘well nigh nill’.

"Today he said that Mr Okechi has been barred from holding the office of a priest in the Church of England for a period of 10 years and the Employment Tribunal can’t go beyond that decision.

"We hope the Employment Tribunal claim will be rejected at a preliminary hearing shortly.”