Who was John Smyth - the barrister at the centre of the Church of England abuse cover-up?

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby is facing calls to step down following a troubling report regarding John Smyth, who is thought to be the most notorious serial abuser linked to the Church of England.

A request from members of the General Synod, which acts as the church's governing body, asking Mr. Welby to step down has accumulated over 5,700 signatures by 5:30 PM on Monday.

A bishop has bolstered the demand for Mr. Welby to resign by stating that the church risks completely losing its credibility when it comes to safeguarding issues.

So, who exactly was John Smyth, the lawyer at the heart of the debate?

John Smyth was a lawyer and a devout evangelical Christian who took on various leadership positions within the Iwerne Trust during the 1970s and 1980s. This organization was a charity that arranged summer camps for young people of the Christian faith.

Smyth, originally from Canada, was appointed Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 1979. He served as the lawyer for Mary Whitehouse, a well-known advocate for moral issues, who pursued legal actions against Gay News and the National Theatre during her campaigns against homosexuality in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1984, the barrister relocated to Zimbabwe, two years after the initial accusations surfaced, and began establishing similar evangelical camps in the region.

In 1997, Smyth was taken into custody following the death of a 16-year-old boy at a camp. However, the case was dismissed before it went to trial, and the lawyer relocated to South Africa.

He passed away in Cape Town in 2018 at the age of 75.

Following the airing of a Channel 4 documentary in 2017, Hampshire Police launched an inquiry into Smyth's misconduct. When he passed away, he was a person of interest for police questioning and was under consideration for extradition back to the UK.

What were the allegations against him?

Smyth is thought to be the most active serial abuser linked to the Church of England.

He faces allegations of sexually, mentally, and physically mistreating around 30 boys and young men in the UK, as well as 85 individuals in Zimbabwe and South Africa, spanning a period of fifty years.

The initial claims against Mr. Smyth emerged in 1982 when a report from the Iwerne Trust mentioned "appalling" physical abuse of boys and young men, which resulted in some of them sustaining injuries that caused bleeding.

Church leaders became aware of the abuse at that point when they obtained the results of the internal investigation. The latest Makin Review revealed that those who received the report "engaged in a deliberate cover-up" to keep its findings hidden.

Smyth's mistreatment was only revealed following the Channel 4 documentary. When the channel questioned him, he stated that he wouldn’t discuss their actions and described some allegations as “ridiculous.”

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In 2017, Andrew Watson, the Bishop of Guildford, revealed that he had suffered from Smyth's abuse. He also mentioned that a friend of his, who had gone through similar abuse, had previously tried to take his own life.

Winchester College, a private boarding school in Hampshire, learned from a report in 2022 that at least 13 former students had been abused by Smyth. The school was aware of the allegations of abuse as early as the 1980s. At that time, the headmaster requested that Smyth stay away from the school but did not notify the police.

The Makin Review concluded that if Smyth had been reported to the authorities sooner, it might have revealed the facts, stopped additional instances of abuse, and potentially resulted in a criminal conviction.

What role does the Archbishop of Canterbury play in this?

Smyth was familiar with Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, having participated in the Iwerne camps during the 1970s.

The independent review concluded that there was no proof that Mr. Welby had any substantial communication with the barrister.

However, the Makin Report revealed that Justin Welby did not notify the police about the abuse immediately after he learned about it in August 2013, shortly after he took on the role of Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mr. Welby stated that he was completely unaware of the allegations or had any reason to suspect them before 2013. However, the independent report determined that it is improbable he was entirely uninformed about the issues surrounding Smyth in the 1980s.

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The archbishop has expressed regret over "failures and oversights" in the investigation of the allegations, particularly following the Channel 4 documentary.

There is an increasing demand for the archbishop to step down.

On Monday, Helen-Ann Hartley, one of the 108 bishops in the Church of England, stated that Mr. Welby's role has become unsustainable.

"It's quite challenging for the church to maintain a moral authority in our country when we struggle to address significant issues within our own community," she stated.