Retired priest pleads guilty to further abuse

Edward Phillips-Smith was jailed for his crimes in January 2024, after he was arrested at his home in Frinton-on-Sea

A retired priest who sexually abused schoolchildren at his home in the 1980s has pleaded guilty to two further crimes which relate to a boy.

Edward Phillips-Smith, 75, appeared at Cannock Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to indecent assault of a boy under the age of 14 and to inciting the boy to commit an act of gross indecency.

Phillips-Smith was released on unconditional bail on 28 October, ahead of sentencing on 9 January at Stafford Crown Court.

In January 2024, Phillips-Smith was jailed for 32 months and was subsequently released on licence in May this year, according to the Ministry of Justice.

He had pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault on a male and two counts of indecency with a child.

The latest two charges relate to incidents which took place in Brewood, Staffordshire, between 1982 and 1983, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

In a previous court hearing, it was disclosed that Phillips-Smith was a chaplain at St Peter's Collegiate School in Wolverhampton and that he was known to the children as Father Eddie.

He would run after-school clubs, was seen as "more relaxed" than other teachers, and would tickle children to make them laugh, the court was told.

The court heard how boys went into his room during a thunderstorm and ended up in his bed. In the middle of the night Phillips-Smith woke the boys up and encouraged them to perform a sex act on him.

After leaving the West Midlands, Phillips-Smith moved on to three further posts in the south of England before his retirement.

Lichfield Diocese said it had handed the priest's file to police after identifying several "red flags" during a past case review carried out between 2019 and 2022.