Runaway 'paedophile priest' is dead, say police

Detectives from the West Midlands who flew to Australia on the trail of a Catholic priest suspected of child abuse said yesterday that they believe he is dead.

Detectives from the West Midlands who flew to Australia on the trail of a Catholic priest suspected of child abuse said yesterday that they believe he is dead.

Father Christopher Clonan went on the run in 1992, leaving his parish in Coundon, Coventry, after accusations that he molested altar boys and other youngsters in his care. He fled to Australia, where his family have always claimed he died of a brain haemorrhage in 1998. In recent months, however, there have been unconfirmed sightings of Clonan in Birmingham, where he had a number of contacts and friends.

West Midlands police sent two officers to Australia last month to investigate a number of inconsistencies surrounding his death. But after contacting his family, including a brother in Melbourne, the officers declared themselves satisfied that the priest had died in Bendigo, Victoria, in October 1998.

DCS Dave Mirfield added: "Recent reports of sightings of Clonan, while possibly given with good intent, are wrong and only cause more distress for the victims and their families."

Clonan left his post of 20 years at the Christ the King Roman Catholic Church in July 1992, fleeing the country to avoid claims that he had repeatedly molested minors.

Police revealed last July that eight complainants - aged between eight and 17 at the time of the alleged offences - had made accusations against the clergyman. In January this year the church agreed to pay a former altar boy, Simon Grey, now 38, £330,000 compensation after he claimed that he suffered years of abuse by Clonan.