John Smyth

The Archbishop of Canterbury is facing questions tonight over his links to an evangelical Christian under police investigation for beating young men.

A Christian youth camp leader accused of brutally beating public schoolboys was later charged over the death of a boy in Africa, Channel 4 News has discovered.

They were “horrific” acts of violence. Twenty two young men groomed and ritually beaten over many years, supposedly to purge them of their sins: one even attempted suicide. The alleged perpetrator – eminent QC John Smyth – ran a Christian charity with close ties to the Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. Reported by Cathy Newman, produced and directed by Tom Stone, and the Channel 4 News Investigations Unit.

Police have today launched an investigation into claims that teenage boys from Britain’s leading public schools were violently beaten, in what’s been described as a “sadomasochistic cult” run by a lawyer with links to the Archbishop of Canterbury.