Winchester Cathedral ex-churchman admits Hook sex offences

One of the offences took place in Hook near Basingstoke.

Winchetser Cathedral former churchman Clive McCleester, 77, pleaded guilty to numerous offences after Metropolitan Police officers retrieved a wealth of historical evidence.

McCleester, of the Hospital of St Cross, St Cross Road, Winchester, admitted eight counts of indecent assault and two counts of gross indecency with a child, against two teenage boys. He will be sentenced on Monday July 10.

In the 1990s McCleester was the verger at Winchester Cathedral, called Custos, before becoming the Queen's verger at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

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Det Sgt Hannah Stewart, from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Unit, described McCleester as a "vile predator who has no place in society".

She said: “This has been a long and arduous investigation with McCleester maintaining his innocence throughout. We are pleased he has finally admitted his guilt just three days before we were due to take him to trial to present our case.

“The initial victim survivor, having sadly passed away after giving police his evidence, was unable to hear the guilty verdict but his family represented him at court in his absence. The second victim survivor was also sexually abused and exploited by McCleester – a verger in his Cathedral. The impact to both at such a young age has been devastating. They have been extremely brave and shown tremendous strength and courage.”

At the time of one of the offences McCleester was employed as a child welfare officer at Tylney Hall School in Hook, between 1960 and 1971.

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The first victim was aged between 13 to 15-years-old. McCleester lived at the boarding school in his own private residence and was assigned as a welfare officer to look after the victim following the death of his grandmother. The abuse took place between January 1969 and April 1971.

The victim disclosed his abuse to police after speaking with a counsellor. He will never know the final outcome of this investigation as he died in August 2020.

Specialist Crime detectives launched an investigation.

A second victim came forward and disclosed the abuse he had also suffered at the hands of McCleester. He was around 13-years-old when he was abused at Southwark Cathedral between January 1984 and May 1987. He was a chorister at the Cathedral where McCleester was the Head Verger. He was abused at McCleester’s flat which was within the vicarage.

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Due to the time frame of the offences, Met officers gathered and reviewed a vast amount of historical documentation. They interrogated systems, old archived files and employment records from the local authority and Southwark Cathedral to trace individuals to help with the investigation. Former pupils were traced and interviewed. They also obtained specialist medical reports to corroborate the two victim accounts.

DS Stewart said: “The officers involved in this case have worked relentlessly and shown incredible commitment to securing these convictions. Both victim/families feel they have been failed by institutions that were supposed to protect them. We hope they can feel an element of peace knowing that justice has been finally served. McCleester is a vile predator who has no place in society.

“We urge anyone who has been a victim of McCleester to come forward to police. We will support you.”

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The pandemic hindered the investigation due to archives being closed. In February 2022 McCleester was charged. An initial trial was set for October 2022 but was deferred to June 26, when he pleaded guilty.

In 2003 McCleester was cleared of indecent assault at a trial in London. The Dean of Winchester, the late Michael Till, gave character witness evidence.

Mr Till told the court: "He was someone to be trusted and relied upon for the work we had to do. For children, we have a duty of care to all of them. His conduct was totally professional."

McCleester trained as a Benedictine monk in Hampshire for two and a half years. He worked as an accountant and at a children's home in Eltham, south London, before becoming verger at Southwark Cathedral in 1982, where he remained until 1992.

He worked at Winchester Cathedral until 2000, before taking on the job as Dean's verger at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, where he has been responsible for tending the Queen Mother's tomb.