A parishioner described as “obsessed” has been given a restraining order following a prolonged campaign of harassment against a priest in West Cornwall.
Truro Crown Court heard that the vicar, Reverend Karsten Wedgewood, was forced to physically remove Kay Carpenter from his home in June 2024 after she repeatedly ignored requests not to contact him or visit his house. The incident, which took place at St John the Baptist Church in Pendeen, led to Carpenter being charged with obstructing and assaulting a clergyman in the discharge of duties in a place of worship.
Rev Wedgewood, of St Just-in-Penwith parish church, told the court: “I used my foot and made contact with her stomach or hip area, the middle of her body,” after Carpenter refused to leave his doorway.
He described enduring years of harassment, including late-night emails and persistent requests for meetings, saying the behaviour became a “never-ending cycle.” Initially, Rev Wedgewood tried to help by encouraging Carpenter to join church activities and make friends, but he said she dismissed these suggestions.
“I just want to get on with my life,” the priest told the court.
Carpenter admitted to sending the emails but claimed she was trying to “build bridges” in the community, adding: “He was a Christian person.”
She has not contacted Rev Wedgewood since being placed on bail in June 2024.
While the prosecution did not pursue criminal charges, it requested a restraining order. Judge Recorder Christopher Quinlan KC agreed, issuing an order that bans Carpenter from approaching Rev Wedgewood’s home or any of three churches in the Pendeen area for the next seven years.
He noted the order was necessary to allow the priest to “shut the door” on what he called “a very stressful situation.”