An Irish former priest who disrupted the Olympic marathon in Athens has appeared in court in London charged with indecency after allegedly chasing a young girl around his home while wearing just a pair of green underpants.
Cornelius "Neil" Horan (57) has pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecency with the child, who was seven years old at the time of the alleged offence, between 1990 and 1992.
Horan, who was born in Co Kerry, has lived in London for many years. The Old Bailey heard yesterday he was an assistant priest at St Anthony's Church, Penge, south London, when the girl and her mother called on him in his one-room bedsit adjacent to the church.
When they entered his room, Horan was wearing only what the court was told were "green Y-fronts". The Crown prosecutor, Mr Frank McGrath, said that Horan soon removed his underwear "and was completely naked".
"At this stage, the defendant began to chase the girl around the room. A time came when he laid down on the floor, lying down on his back," Mr McGrath said.
While Horan was lying on the floor, the girl had touched his genitals. Later, while Horan sat on a chair, he tried to lift the child onto his lap, Mr McGrath said.
When the girl's mother, who had visited Horan to receive instruction in the Roman Catholic faith, saw him trying to lift her daughter onto his knee, she told the curate to put his clothes back on, Mr McGrath said.
He told the court that when Horan was arrested in March this year, he had told police: "Yes, I was naked." Horan had written to police twice about the incident since charges were laid, and had admitted that he had been lying naked on his bed in the presence of the woman and her child.
In one letter, he said the two had been "passionately tickling me". In another, he said he had been naked for around 90 minutes while being "feverishly" tickled and chasing the child.
The girl, who is now 20 years old, told the court that her mother had not contacted police about the incident until earlier this year, after talking to a priest about it. "I remember my mum was there and they were watching a video or the telly."
The girl's mother told the court she had remained close to Horan in the years following the alleged assault on her daughter and had helped him write a book A Glorious World Soon To Come.
Asked by the defence counsel, Ms Julia Krish: "Neil Horan believes it is perfectly natural to be naked?" the girl's mother replied: "Yes."
Horan created an international spectacle in Athens in August when he disrupted the men's Olympic marathon while wearing a green sash with matching beret and a red kilt, while brandishing a placard that read: "The Grand Prix priest. Israel fulfilment of prophecy, says the Bible. The second coming is near."
Horan told the Athens Flagrant Crimes Court he had not intended to obstruct the Brazilian runner Mr de Lima, but had only wanted to proclaim the second coming of Christ. He was fined €3,000, barred from attending sports events in Greece for three months and sentenced to a year in jail, suspended for three years.
His appearance at the Olympics followed a similar incident at the British Grand Prix a year earlier, when he ran onto the Silverstone track, forcing drivers to swerve to avoid hitting him. Both incidents were raised in court, and the girl's mother said she had stood by Horan during his two-month imprisonment for the Silverstone trespass.