CHRIS BRAIN, the founding father of the Nine O’Clock Service (NOS), is to face a retrial next yr on charges of rape and indecent assault.
Last month, a jury at Inner London Crown Court returned verdicts on 32 of the 37 charges against Mr Brain, 68, of Wilmslow, Cheshire. They found him guilty on 17 charges of indecent assault, and never guilty on 15 further charges (News, 20 August)
The jury couldn’t reach a verdict on an extra 4 charges of indecent assault and certainly one of rape. The Crown Prosecution Service was in search of a second trial on these charges, Tim Clark KC told a hearing on Thursday. “It’s in the general public interest,” he said.
The second trial is scheduled to start in September next yr. In his first trial, Mr Brain denied all the fees.
The assaults of which Mr Brain was found guilty were committed within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineteen Nineties. The NOS, which Mr Brain led, began in Sheffield in 1986 and was celebrated for its ability to attract crowds of young people. But it collapsed in 1995 over allegations about Mr Brain’s behaviour, and concerns a few “cult-like” atmosphere.
After the initial verdicts were announced, the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, offered “an unreserved apology” to anyone effected by the events (News, 21 August).
“I recognise that a mixed verdict may be profoundly painful: for some it might bring a measure of justice and relief, and for others it should feel incomplete, confusing, or retraumatising,” he said on the time. “Those reactions are comprehensible and I’m truly sorry for the continued hurt this brings.
Support is on the market via sheffdio.org/NOSsupport and Safe Spaces
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