SEVEN ZIMBAS CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Seven Zimbabweans are suing the Church of England for allegedly concealing abuses perpetrated by its top official in the 1980s and 1990s, after his criminal activities became known in the United Kingdom where he was born.

The claimants include six men abused as teenagers at John Smyth QC’s Christian holiday camps in Zimbabwe and the mother of Guide Nyachuru, a 16-year-old boy found dead in a swimming pool at one of Smyth’s camps in 1992.

The victims are being represented by British law firm Leigh Day.

The legal action, announced on Saturday, follows findings by an inquiry that the Church of England’s deliberate failure to report Smyth’s known criminal abuse in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1982 and 1984 directly led to his relocation to Zimbabwe, where he continued his pattern of violent sexual abuse.

According to the claim, Smyth’s abuse in Zimbabwe included forced nudity, severe beatings with table tennis and jokari bats, indecent exposure, groping and intrusive questioning about masturbation.

This mirrored his earlier conduct in the UK, where he was known to beat naked boys for hours in a soundproofed shed, leaving them bleeding and requiring adult nappies to stem the flow.

An internal church investigation at the time acknowledged the criminality of Smyth’s actions, but did not inform police.

Instead, the claim alleges, senior clergy encouraged Smyth to leave the country.

“The failure to report Smyth to the authorities appears to have been motivated by a desire to protect the reputation of the Church of England,” the claimants stated.

Following discussions among clergy, Smyth moved to Zimbabwe and established the Zambesi Trust UK, which funded his work and expenses.

The trust’s council included prominent conservative evangelicals and its funding enabled Smyth to host the camps where the abuses occurred.

The claim is directed at St Andrew the Great Church in Cambridge, which employed the late Reverend Mark Ruston, who led the initial internal investigation.

It alleged that Ruston and other senior church officials “deliberately concealed the abuse and failed to report it to the police, despite acknowledging that crimes had been committed.”

The claimants cited the recent Makin Review, a report commissioned by the Church of England and published in 2024, which concluded that the church had actively covered up Smyth’s abuse and considered him “a problem solved and exported to Africa”.

The report’s publication led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and disciplinary proceedings against several clergy.

“In orchestrating this cover up, Ruston and the other Church of England officers . . . knowingly enabled him to continue to have access to and be involved with vulnerable boys,” the legal letter said.

“But for the breaches our clients would not have been abused by Smyth and would not have suffered the harm detailed.”

One claimant, Rocky Leanders, said: “The memory of the shame and humiliation I suffered to satisfy John Smyth has never left me... I feel increasingly angry that the Church of England exported this criminal to Zimbabwe.”

Edith Nyachuru, sister of the deceased Guide Nyachuru, added: “The Church of England had the power to stop Smyth before he ever came to Zimbabwe. Instead, they chose silence.”

The claimants are seeking a full apology, an independent review of the abuses in Zimbabwe and South Africa and financial compensation.

Leigh Day solicitor Rebekah Read, who represents the claimants, said: “This case is about accountability.

“The Church of England had multiple opportunities to stop John Smyth and protect vulnerable boys. “Instead, it chose to protect its reputation.” Newsday

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