London - A vicar has been charged with assaulting a woman and drink-driving.
Reverend David Davies, 49, was arrested on suspicion of beating the woman and then getting behind the wheel of his Jaguar while twice the legal limit.
The former Army chaplain, who has been a priest for more than 30 years, was relieved of his duties in a rural parish several months ago.
Police later pulled him over in a country park, where he allegedly failed a breathalyser test.
Davies was said to have 92 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, nearly three times the legal limit of 35 micrograms.
A Church spokesman said the vicar’s alleged crimes happened after he had stopped working in the pretty thatched village of Cockington, near Torquay in Devon.
He was due before Torbay magistrate’s court this week but was excused from appearing in person after his lawyer submitted a letter to a district judge explaining his absence.
The contents of the letter were not revealed to the court, however.
Davies is yet to enter a plea to charges of driving in a public place while over the limit and assault by beating. He has been told not to contact three named women and not to go to the vicarage in Monterey Close, Torquay. The Exeter Diocese issued a statement through the Venerable Clive Cohen, Acting Archdeacon of Totnes, explaining that Davies had been relieved of his church duties two months before the incident.
He said: “The diocese has been working to support him and his family pastorally and practically throughout this period.
“We were very grieved when the police informed us of the charges against him. We do not condone the alleged actions in any way.
“We are continuing to offer pastoral care to his family. My prayers are for David’s family and David himself in this immensely difficult time. I would ask that they be given privacy now. I also pray for the parishes of Torre and Cockington.”
Davies faces one charge of assaulting a woman by beating in Torquay on November 4, and one charge of driving while over the limit in a public place. He was bailed to reappear in court on December 8.
When he was appointed vicar of Cockington and Torre in October 2013, he spoke of how hymns “inspired me to go on”, adding: “Music, hymnody and the psalms have helped me understand my own journey through some calm and stormy seas.”
Daily Mail