Priest bashes bishop’s car into soap star’s partner’s Skoda while drunk

A vicar faces being defrocked after going on a drunken drive with his bishop’s official £50,000 car.

Father Sion Hughes Carew’s chaotic driving spree saw him slam into a parked car and reverse into a garden wall, before being arrested in front of his own parishioners.

The crash wrote off a £2,000 Skoda Octavia, which belonged to Brian Meagher, 78.

Brian is the boyfriend of actress Heather Bell, who has played Clarrie Grundy on the Radio 4 soap opera The Archers since 1979.

Ms Bell, 81, has seen the funny side, joking: ‘It’s the story of the actress and the bishop!’

The vicar, 40, is understood to have spent a Friday evening last month drinking with the Bishop of Lincoln Stephen Conway at the bishop’s palace.

The pair had become friends after Bishop Conway had given Father Hughes Carew his first church in February.

The jovial evening ended with a drunken Father Hughes Carew driving off – apparently barefoot – in the bishop’s official car, a year-old Kia Sportage.

Half a mile from Lincoln Cathedral, and a five minute walk from his vicarage, the Kia hit a parked Skoda Octavia twice.

Father Hughes Carew then continued up a steep hill and after appearing to stall, went backwards into a garden wall and railings.

The commotion, which unfolded at 11pm, saw residents rush out of their homes to see what was going on.

At Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on October 30, Father Hughes Carew admitted driving the bishop’s car while almost three times the alcohol limit.

The priest was banned from driving for two years, although that could be reduced to six months upon completion of a safe-driving course.

He was also slapped with a £873 fine,and must also pay a surcharge of £349 and £85 costs.

Archers actress Ms Bell told Daily Mail that the vicar had appeared calm after the crash.

She said: ‘Brian was very upset because he hadn’t had the car long. It was a hell of an accident, but the driver seemed so calm as he walked up and down on his phone the whole time – though he must have been terrified of the consequences.’

Partner Mr Meagher said: ‘I would say it’s no way for a vicar to behave, but it’s no way for anyone to behave.’

Parishioners at Father Hughes Carew’s churches, All Saints’ Lincoln and St Mary-le-Wigford, have been told their vicar is ill, where he actually faced diciplinary action.

The father is at risk of being stripped of holy orders.

Bishop Conway also faces questions about how an evening with a local vicar ended up in his official car being taken for a drunken spin.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Lincoln said: ‘A formal disciplinary process is under way for the Reverend Sion Hughes Carew.

‘The Bishop of Lincoln had no knowledge of the car being taken and did not give permission.’ Bishop Conway was criticised last November in the Makin Review into the abuse of young men by lay preacher John Smyth that led to the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. The bishop was found to have failed, in his previous role as Bishop of Ely, to ensure authorities knew enough about Smyth’s abuse to bring him to justice.

Father Hughes Carew has been asked to comment.

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