A Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal for the Diocese of Southwark has given David Tudor a second lifetime prohibition from ministry under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003. The penalty follows a hearing in November 2025 which upheld a complaint relating to the serious sexual abuse of a 15 year old during the time David Tudor was a priest in the Diocese of Southwark in the 1980s.

David Tudor was prohibited from ministry for life in October 2024 after a different Bishop’s Disciplinary Tribunal for the Diocese of Southwark upheld complaints from two other women, following his full admission of guilt to serious sexual abuse. That admission also related to the time David Tudor was a priest in the Diocese of Southwark and included serious sexual abuse involving a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old.

David Tudor was Rector of Canvey Island in the Diocese of Chelmsford at the time of his prohibition from ministry in October 2024. He had been a priest in the Diocese of Chelmsford since 1997 and had been suspended from ministry since 2019.

Commenting on this latest penalty decision, the Bishop of Chelmsford the Rt Rev’d Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani said:

“The woman who brought this complaint showed extraordinary courage in doing so. I want to repeat my thanks to her and to all those who have come forward to report David Tudor’s abuse. I am profoundly sorry for the trauma and harm he has caused and I am deeply grateful to them for engaging with this lengthy and difficult process.

“I also want to repeat my thanks to the safeguarding professionals at Chelmsford and Southwark Dioceses and the Church of England National Safeguarding Team who continue to work together to support those who are victims and survivors of David Tudor’s abuse and to liaise with the relevant statutory authorities.

“We are continuing to support the Independent Reviewers who are undertaking a Safeguarding Practice Review of the David Tudor case, jointly commissioned by the National Safeguarding Team, and the dioceses of Southwark and Chelmsford.”