Church charity cash 'mismanaged'

Douglas Goodman took large sums of money

A pastor convicted of sexual assault drew a substantial unauthorised salary from his church, a Charity Commission report has found.

Pastor Douglas Goodman, 47, of Northampton, and his wife Erica owned a £1.5m house, drove sports cars and holidayed in exotic places.

They were paid by the Victory Christian Centre charity in north London.

The charity was plunged into debt after "misconduct and mismanagement", the Charity Commission says in its report.

Goodman was jailed in May for sexually assaulting followers.

The pastor signed the majority of cheques as sole signatory, in breach of the charity's constitution Charity Commission report

The Charity Commission closed the independent evangelical church in December 2002 amid allegations money had gone missing and that the Goodmans were receiving large personal benefits.

Concerns were also raised that the former bus driver and self-styled preacher and his wife exerted a "dominant influence" over the trustees, despite resigning from the trustee body themselves in 1999.

A Charity Commission investigation found Goodman was sole signatory to most of the church's cheques.

In 2001, the charity had an income of £3.5m. A year later it was an estimated £200,000 in debt.

The report stated: "The Charity Commission investigation revealed evidence of misconduct and mismanagement, including significant unauthorised salary payments and other benefits provided to the pastor and his wife, as well as a number of the trustees."

It added: "The trustees were not in control of the charity. The pastor signed the majority of cheques as sole signatory, in breach of the charity's constitution.

"There was a lack of financial controls surrounding cash collections and charitable expenditure was not adequately accounted for."

Despite the findings, the commission is not attempting to recover the missing money and has advised the Metropolitan Police of its decision.

The church had just 100 members when the pair took over running of the centre in 1996.

New guidelines

Its congregation swelled to 3,000 and followers paid 10% of their salary to the charity by direct debit.

New guidelines are being drafted by the Charity Commission in the wake of the scandal and other problems with independent churches.

Governing documents which set out how a charity church will be run will in the future include a remuneration clause clarifying exactly how much a pastor is to be paid.

Goodman was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail after being convicted at the Old Bailey of assaulting a 19-year-old woman, attempted indecent assault on a 26-year-old woman and perverting the course of justice.

Mrs Goodman is senior pastor to another church, Victory to Victory, which meets in Wembley, north-west London, where a spokesman refused to comment on the report.