The Bishop of Leicester has denied accusing a churchwarden of witchcraft, after his stalker alleged he had been practising séances in St Nicholas’ Church.
Venessa ‘Vee’ Pinto began stalking churchwarden Jay Hulme after he rejected her romantic advances. Both were in their mid-twenties at the time. Jay was hoping to go into ministry, and Venessa was a preacher who was elected onto the Church of England’s General Synod and Crown Nominations Commission.
Jay was initially taken aback when she asked him out after a service at St Nicholas’: “I was like, ‘I'm gay, but thank you for asking,’” he told the BBC, “but she asked me if it was because she was black.”
This led to a series of abusive messages and accusations of racism levelled at Jay, who identifies as transgender. When he blocked her, several false social media accounts emerged, allegedly created by Venessa. She also appeared last minute at a Jesuit retreat which he had booked privately. “It [was] in the middle of nowhere,” he recalled. “As far as I'm concerned, there is no way that could have happened naturally.”
Feeling desperate, Jay reported the stalking to both Leicestershire Police and the Church. The Church’s HR investigation concluded Venessa had been responsible for the abuse, which Jay assumed would be the end of it. However, he was subsequently called into a meeting with the Bishop of Leicester.
The Rt Revd Martyn Snow, who is considered a favourite to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury, had conducted his own investigation into the claims. Jay reports the Bishop saying it was a case of “he said, she said.” He alleges that Bishop Snow accused him of conducting a séance in the church, due to a false account given by Venessa—who also reported him for being friends with an individual who practised tarot readings.
“Somebody had given a statement that I had been seen in the church, in the darkness, with a candle – and they thought I was conducting a séance. For clarity, I was praying with a candle in the dark, because that's a thing that Christians do,” said Jay.
He recalls being told that his journey of discernment towards ordination would be “slowed down”.
Previously, Venessa had been licensed by Bishop Snow as an ‘intercultural pioneer’ within the Diocese of Leicester. Jay claims that Bishop Snow said his descriptions of Venessa were at odds with what he knew of her character.
“She [Venessa] had somehow managed to make a bishop become part of her stalking campaign of harassment and threats, and use his power and position, and I couldn't believe it was happening,” said Jay.
At the time, Venessa did not lose her licence to preach.
A statement from the Diocese says Jay Hulme’s account is not entirely accurate:“The Church of England has never supported such actions and therefore it was entirely appropriate for the bishop to ask about their veracity (given that Mr Hulme is exploring becoming a priest in the Church of England). This is a long way from accusing someone of being a ‘witch’.”
The statement continues: “We remain deeply appalled by the serious criminal behaviour that led to Venessa Pinto’s conviction.”
The Diocese insists that its safeguarding teams took the accusations “seriously,” and have since terminated Venessa’s employment.
“[The Diocese] sought legal advice and is confident that it followed HR practice and due process in handling the complaint.”
It concluded: “Bishop Martyn did meet with Mr Hulme and apologised for his original decision to not uphold the complaint. He explained the further evidence that had come to light from an external organisation, which had given him irrefutable grounds to remove Ms Pinto’s licence.”
Venessa has since stated that she was going through mental health challenges at the time, and was unaware of how deeply her actions had affected Jay until she read his witness impact statement.