The Catholic church in Leicester said it was appalled by the actions of paedophile Father Michael Ingram.

Monsignor Peter O'Dowd, the Vicar General for the Catholic Church in Leicestershire, said Ingram had betrayed the trust placed on him by children and the church.

"Although it is a long time since he was in Leicester, the church cannot and will not overlook incidents like this. The church is devastated and appalled that something like this could happen.

"It would seem to me that what he was doing was beyond his own mental capacity, going off at a tangent from his studies of child psychology. Without sounding like an apologist, I would say that he probably does not understand the full gravity of this terrible situation."

Monsignor O'Dowd spoke out against Ingram in 1977, when he was at the centre of row over comments he made at a conference in Swansea.

Leicester's Family Service Unit says staff helped "in every way" a police investigation into Ingram's crimes.

Child psychologist and priest Ingram worked for the Leicester branch of the FSU from 1971 to 1974.

The Family Service Unit's regional director Julie Davies, said she first became aware of a police investigation in September 1998.

She said: "We deeply regret any association with an alleged abuser and would want to reassure families using our service that we take the utmost care in the recruiting, vetting and supervising staff and volunteers.

"Our first consideration has been our service users past and present. We have thus tried to ensure that a man who has betrayed the trust of children, their families, staff and committee member of the FSU be brought to justice."

Ingram did part-time sessional work with youngsters and families. He made contact with the FSU as a priest and became involved in several joint FSU and church ventures.

Meanwhile the British Psychological Society says it is to continue campaigning for the statutory registration of psychologists following Ingram's conviction.

Although described in court as a child psychologist, the BPS says Ingram was never registered with them.

His adopted role as a child psychologist brought him into contact regularly with young and vulnerable children.

But as the law stands, anyone can call themselves a psychologist and practise without proving their qualifications and abilities.

British Psychological Society president Tommy MacKay said: "Cases like this emphasise once again the need for statutory registration of psychologists.

"At the moment, anyone can call themselves a psychologist even it they are not qualified at all. The British Psychological Society is campaigning vigorously for a change in the law in order to protect the public."

Ingram trained in educational psychology at Oxford University Institute of Education and in child counselling at the Tavistock Clinic in London.

This story was first published in the Leicester Mercury

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