'Vicar, 87, branded woman with a cross and beat her with a cane'

A married 87-year-old vicar branded a woman with a cross, tied her up and beat her with a bamboo cane as he treated her like a slave during a decade of abuse, a court heard.

Vicar Hilary Alflatt, whose forename used to be Malcolm, forced the woman to take a vow of obedience and treated her like his slave during the 1980s when he worked at a church in Sheffield, jurors at Hull Crown Court heard.

He has been accused of five counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and two counts of false imprisonment of the woman who he allegedly mentally, physically and sexually abused between 1983 and 1992.

The judge ruled Mr Alflatt, now of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was unfit to plead, meaning jurors will decide whether he committed the offences alleged rather than delivering a verdict.   

In police interviews, Alflatt agreed some of the alleged incidents happened but said they were consensual.

He told police he branded the woman with a cross to mark the end of their affair. 

Provided by Daily Mail A married 87-year-old vicar branded a woman with a cross, tied her up and beat her with a bamboo cane as he treated her like a slave during a decade of abuse, Hull Crown Court (pictured) heard

He is also said to have punished her for looking him in the eye, made her prostrate herself before him, kiss his feet, and made her call him 'master'.

Louise Reevell, prosecuting said: 'This case is not about an affair and consent, it's about power, control, depravity and sadism on his part.'

The alleged victim claimed the defendant hit her on occasions with a cane, 'walloped' her in the face, left her 'black and blue', almost drowned her in the bath, and locked her in the vicarage cellar.

She also claimed he branded her under her arm after heating a needle.

The woman previously told Hull Crown Court that much of the abuse took place at Mr Alflatt's vicarage.

Mr Alflatt claimed to police that he thought if he 'caused her more pain, she would leave me alone'. 

In police interviews read out to the jury, he said the woman 'asked me to do things' as their relationship progressed, including tying her up and beating her with a cane.

He said: 'I felt I had to keep her happy because I was in a relationship which, if it came out, would have destroyed my parish. She had a real hold over me.'

The woman also told police that Mr Alflatt made her make 'life vows' of poverty, obedience and chastity in order to control her life.

Mr Alflatt has admitted to making the woman, who cannot be named, make the vows but he claims he did it so 'she would leave me alone when I told her to.'

He has also described claims he had 'brainwashed' the woman as 'nonsense' and that she 'never raised any objection.'

Kathryn Pitters, defending, said the priest claimed it was a consensual relationship.

She said: 'They formed a romantic relationship and although some of the proceedings that took place may make you raise an eyebrow, the reality, as he puts it was, 'you don't know what goes on behind closed doors between two consenting adults.''