Church of Ireland minister accused of swindling money from his church tells jury 'I am not a dishonest person'

Giving evidence for the second day at his trial in Craigavon Crown Court, 45-year-old Rev. Adrian McLaughlin maintained that a £10,000 cheque the prosecution say he wrote to himself was to reimburse him for money he had spent out of his own pocket.

Part of the Crown case is that the reverend was given money an envelope containing £200 after a funeral, given to him by the deceased man’s daughter and witnessed by her friend and that £345 cash and a £50 cheque had been collected in donations for the RVH Liver Support Unit after a different funeral.

Today he resolutely denied being paid for a funeral, labelling the two witnesses who claim they gave him the cash filled envelope as liars and explaining to prosecuting counsel Joseph Murphy that “I never took payment for a funeral…it would be immoral.”

In relation to the RVH liver support money he suggested that having put the envelope away he forgot about it and since it was found with £20 and the cheque still inside, he suggested that someone else had taken the cash.

“It has nothing to do with me,” he told trial Judge Patrick Lynch KC and when the judge put to him that he believed “you are being set up,” Rev. McLaughlin agreed “I’m being set up quite a bit.”

Mr Murphy suggested to the defendant that despite the funeral cash, cash payments from a Slimming World meeting and donations being intended and designated to the church and the liver support unit “you simply helped yourself.”

“That is an absolute lie and I deny it completely and I am insulted,” declared Rev. McLaughlin, repeating claims that his “ex wife and her lovers have brought this campaign against me and they’re trying to get me a prison sentence, get my children taken off me and get me out of my house.”

Rev. McLaughlin, with an address at Church Avenue in Dunmurry, faces a total of six charges of committing fraud by abuse of position on dates between 15 October 2016 and 1 October 2018 with five of the offences relating to St. Colman’s Parish Church and the final charge relating to his role as a “constructive trustee” with the RVH Liver Unit Group.

The particulars of the offences accuse Rev. McLaughlin of: Writing out a £10,000 cheque to himself; Taking a £1,000 donation for himself; Taking £520 from two parishioners relating to funerals and one who paid to use the church hall for Slimming World and Pocketed donations from a funeral held at the church but intended to go to RVH Liver Unit Group at a time when he was a “constructive trustee of the said monies for the benefit of the RVH Liver Unit Group.”

According to the Crown case, the offences do not have a potential explanation of bad book keeping but rather “is about downright dishonesty” where the central theme is that the defendant “abused his position as rector in order to serve his own personal interests.”

The reverend has claimed however that in the aftermath of a fire which completely gutted the church in January 2016, he paid thousands of pounds out of his pocket for such things as buying an replacement organ for £5,000, a wooden hut used to house the Sunday school for £3,500 and spending more than £10,000 on the church gardens, further claiming all his efforts were directed towards the “beautification and betterment” of St. Colman’s Parish Church and was done with “a pure heart.”

In cross examination today Rev. McLaughlin agreed with Mr Murphy that in the minutes of vestry committee meetings, it was recorded there had been discussions and agreement about people being reimbursed for things they had bought for the church and to buy certain items.

Mr Murphy highlighted however there were no such discussions or agreement about Rev. McLaughlin being reimbursed to the tune of £10,000 but the defendant claimed that had not been raised at a formal vestry meeting but rather at a dinner party attended by him, his then wife, the treasurer Lynne Williams and her husband John.

The prosecutor suggested to the alleged fraudster the discussion at the dinner party which turned into an “ad hoc” vestry meeting “never took place, that simply did not happen” but Rev. McLaughlin told him “that is completely incorrect,” labelling testimony from other witnesses as “complete nonsense and total lies.”

The jury have also heard the payee was later made out to Rev. Adrian McLaughlin, that when he filled in the cheque stub he wrote the cheque had been paid to NI Organs Ltd and also there had been no church treasurer at the time.

Mr Murphy put to him that as there had been no discussion about him being the recipient of the £10,000 and because the cheque stub had been filled in as NI Organs Ltd, the other members of the vestry would not have known their reverend was to be the beneficiary of that large sum of money but he maintained the money “would have been discussed and agreed at the AGM.”

Rev. McLaughlin claimed he did not write in his name in the stub because he had been “in the middle of a party” at the time he trusted that other ‘would be able to fill in the blanks and details.”

Prosecuting counsel concluded his cross examination by suggesting to the reverend he had written out the cheque and stub “at a time the church had no treasurer because you hoped you would not be found out.”

“No, I am not a dishonest person,” claimed Rev. McLaughlin.

The jury have now heard all of the evidence in the case and discharging them for the weekend, Judge Lynch said they would hear closing speeches from Mr Murphy and defence KC Richard McConkey on Monday morning.

The trial continues.