Some people won't be to unhappy to see the end of the News of the World.
Some will miss the gossip.
The first time I read a number of copies of this paper was back in 1996, A Bloomsbury resident arrived at my office door and said have you read these, I was slightly puzzled and spent the morning reading week after week of scandal relating to the Church I had just taken a job at, St Geroge's Church Bloomsbury. It was shocking to read a daughter of a very wealthy construction company boss was living at Bloomsbury YWCA and was employed by the church and was claiming benefits and was caught whipping men on the High Altar in the church. The paper alleged the Rector at the time had offered to take two reporters away on a gay break in Thailand. Boy George was booked for a performance in the Church and Church Wardens found the church was littered with syringes and other drug materials the next morning. The News of the World reporter started investigating after adverts were placed in Time Out, these adverts were advertising a Gay night club in the crypt. The News of the World Reporters soon found the Club had no licence and was selling alcohol.
The club was closed and reopened legally in a redundant Church in Charing Cross Road, London.
Some of the Church staff were arrested and charged after a police investigation, mainly for things like stealing church funds, the Rector was never charged or sacked by the Church of England, he was moved to assist at a church not far away and assisted there until he retired, he also kept his Chaplains role at a London Art College. So I don't think all involved in that scandal will be sad to see the paper gone.
I soon learnt the church used to refer to the Paper as the Church Times a lot of vicars would rush to newsagents to see the latest vicar who had been a bit naughty. To my surprise they missed the death of the Hampstead Vicar who was found Christmas morning tied to his bed with a orange stuffed in his mouth and a bottle of poppers beside him. The Ham and High and The Camden New Journal reported it as a tragic accident.
I was fortunate there was scandal whilst I was employed at St George's Church until 2002
Although readers of this blog may have read some recent comments suggesting I bribed the Rector this is not true.
It is true my union the TGWA sued the church for neglect after I was stabbed in the hand with a drug addicts needle, and other issues dealt with out of court. I got fed up with the long delays in dealing with the cases and spoke with and sorted the matter directly with the Church solicitors. Most of the money I was paid was used for a good causes. I am often asked by these nosey people how much I received. I can say I received £3,000
from the needle payout not much when you consider the many visits I had to make over the year to UCL for various tests. The other amount was not very large but it was not small, a legal agreement forbids me revealing the amount.
