Hilary Alflatt: Ex-Sheffield vicar on trial could discover fate today as jury deliberations continue

A former Sheffield vicar on trial could discover his fate today as jurors in his case continue their deliberations.
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Hilary Alflatt, aged 87, is accused of five counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of false imprisonment.

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Vicar at Sheffield church branded woman with cross and locked her up naked in de...
Hilary Alflatt, 87, is accused of five counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of false imprisonmentHilary Alflatt, 87, is accused of five counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of false imprisonment
Hilary Alflatt, 87, is accused of five counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of false imprisonment
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Previously known as Malcolm, Alflatt has been accused of sadistically branding the woman and beating her with a cane during a decade of abuse.

The defendant, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, has been ruled unfit to plead, so jurors will not return verdicts, but must decide whether he committed the offences alleged.

Alflatt, previous is said to have treated his accuser like 'a slave' between 1983 and 1992, when he served in Sheffield.

He is said to have punished her for looking him in the eye, made her prostrate herself before him, kiss his feet, and made her call him "master".

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In police interviews, Alflatt agreed some of the alleged incidents happened, but said they were consensual.

Louise Reevell, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court: “This case is not about an affair and consent, it's about power, control, depravity and sadism on his part.”

Kathryn Pitters, defending, said the priest claimed it was a consensual relationship.

She said: “They formed a romantic relationship and although some of the proceedings that took place may make you raise an eyebrow, the reality, as he puts it was, 'you don't know what goes on behind closed doors between two consenting adults'.”