A FORMER Alton priest has been at the centre of a High Court case which has found the Catholic Church to be legally responsible for priests charged with child abuse.

Brought at a time when the Church has been trying to end scandals over sexual abuse by priests, Tuesday's landmark ruling could force the Catholic Church to pay out millions of pounds to sex abuse victims.

The late Father Wilfred Baldwin, who was the priest in charge at St Mary's Church in Alton during the 1980s and 1990s, has been accused of raping children at a Roman Catholic church-run children's home in the early 1970s.

For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.