CATHOLIC PRIEST ADMITS SPENDING £50,000 STOLEN FROM HIS PARISH ON HIS GIRL FRIEND !

A Roman Catholic priest who fell in love with his housekeeper defrauded his parish of more than £50,000 while lavishing her and her daughters with gifts.

The Rev John Reid, 70, was supposed to live a simple life, but spent £1,200 on a canteen of cutlery, was a member of the Sunday Times Wine Club and spent £80 on oysters and smoked salmon while holidaying in Scotland.

Jane Waugh, prosecuting, said the priest, now living in Stockton, had joined the parish in 2009 and accounts showed spending increased fourfold in some areas after he took over.

She said "female clothing" had been found in the bedrooms and passports belonging to the housekeeper Gillian Leddy and her two daughters had been found in the safe.

The court heard that Mr Reid told police he had fallen in love with Gillian Leddy, and saw her daughters, Veronica and Alice, as "the family that he never had".

During the inquiry, it emerged that the priest gave property and money to the Leddys on a "large scale", buying two homes each for Veronica and Alice, a car each and financing a cafe business for them.

He also gave them both substantial amounts of cash. But Ms Waugh said the money for these gifts came from an inheritance of the priest, not the result of fraud.

Mr Reid accepted taking the Leddys out to eat "a few times a week". Over the four years he was at St Cuthbert's, his basic remuneration should have totalled £31,455.