Lovestruck female parishioner convicted of harassing 'traumatised' priest

She was a lovestruck parishioner, devoted to him.

But 48-year-old Cheryl Burston's romantic dreams - which saw her give Father Timothy Menezes chocolates and a teddy bear - turned to harassment when he rejected her advances.

The obsessed parishioner put a public notice about the 37-year-old priest in a local newspaper and wrote to his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church.

Burston, who denied harassment but was convicted by magistrates in Coventry, met Father Menezes in September 2006 when she began attending the city's St Thomas More Church, 200 yards from her home.

The court heard that the priest was at first happy to exchange emails about church matters.

But he became alarmed after Burston, who lives with her elderly mother, presented him with the teddy bear, chocolates and an expensive pen on Christmas Eve, 2006.

Ignoring requests to leave him alone, the former bank worker continued to send affectionate emails, including one in which she professed her love for him.

Father Menezes is said to have found the harassment traumatic.

Giving evidence, Burston said she sent the email stating her love after receiving an electronic Valentine card which she mistakenly took to be from the priest.

She told police she did not expect her advances to be reciprocated and had not meant to harass him.

But she admitted watching him from her mother's room as he stood in his kitchen, naked from the waist up.

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Father Menezes told the court he had repeatedly made clear that he wished to keep their relationship professional.

But after he confided his concerns to another female parishioner, nBurston took out a newspaper-notice stating she had not spread rumours about the priest.

Copies were sent to parishioners and the priest's parents.

Giving evidence, a clearly embarrassed Father Menezes said: "I believe there was a presumption of a feeling on her part that I did not share."

He said he was concerned about the threat "to my reputation as a priest, having chosen to live life as a single person".

Magistrates told Burston her actions would have caused Father Menezes a great deal of embarrassment and gave her a 12-month conditional discharge.