Retired Telford vicar is found guilty of indecently assaulting girl, 15

The jury at Shrewsbury Crown Court convicted Kevin McGarahan by a majority verdict on Monday after completing around six hours of deliberations. He will be sentenced next month.

The 64-year-old, now living in Cornwall, had denied assaulting the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in 1995 at the vicarage where he lived in Woodside.

She went to the church authorities with her mother days after the assault to report it. But police were not involved and the complaint was filed away by church authorities.

It only came to light in 2014 when a new safeguarding officer for the Diocese of Hereford found the file.

McGarahan, who at one point was chaplain to the British athletics team and accompanied them to three Olympic Games, worked in Telford from 1992 to 1996.

Both he and his wife were taken to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital by ambulance after she collapsed outside court following the verdict yesterday.

The Bishop of Hereford Richard Frith said: "A case like this is a reminder of our need to be scrupulous in our safeguarding and we intend always to be that scrupulous."

The NSPCC today praised the bravery of the victim in coming forward. Spokesman Imthiaz Rehman said: "We all have a responsibility to ensure the well-being of children and young people. McGarahan betrayed that responsibility and took advantage of the trust placed in him by the victim in this case.

"We praise her bravery in coming forward and speaking out against abuse."

Judge Peter Barrie adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service. McGarahan was bailed to appear back at court on June 3.