A MARRIED vicar was duped by a parishioner claiming she was dying – and she later lied about him having sex with her, a tribunal has ruled.

Reverend William Bulloch became a victim of a “deeply disturbing” campaign of manipulation by a woman who claimed she was terminally all, convincing him to let her live in his home.

The vicar of St James the Great Church, Leigh, had his suspicions aroused about the woman, who has not been named, when she was seen walking around a hospital, despite claiming to be wheelchair-bound.

The entire saga of events, from late 2016 to early 2017, have been detailed in a 40-page church tribunal report released last week.

The complaint was brought under the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) by the Archdeacon of Southend, the Ven. Michael Lodge, in November 2017.

When Mr Bulloch confronted the woman and told her he would no longer give her pastoral care, she accused him of having sex with her, after she had moved out of his home and back to hers.

It was also found the woman, known as “AB” in the report, had fabricated more than 100 emails claiming to be from a psychiatrist and medical professional which claimed to “prove” her terminal illness.

After the pastoral care was withdrawn, AB waged a vicious campaign against the vicar, including making threats to spread her claims about a sexual relationship, sending “flowers for the baby” to his home, and made an urn with his name on it, sending it to the church.

AB also manipulated Mr Bulloch into telling her own daughter, aged seven, that she was dying and would “soon be in heaven”; the disciplinary board described this as “astonishing” and a “particularly chilling” aspect of the case.

The board found that the sexual relationship “was not established in the evidence” and dismissed AB’s claim of adultery in a majority verdict.

However, they also stated Mr Bulloch had acted “extremely naively” and “without any appropriate sense of boundaries”.

The ruling was published on January 20, and a penalty for Mr Bulloch’s admissions is being considered.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Chelmsford said: “This has been a complex and distressing case.

"The Diocese of Chelmsford takes all disciplinary issues very seriously and is following Policy and Practice guidance.  

"We ask for prayers for all those affected by this case.”