Mr and Mrs B began attending the religious services of the Barry Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 1984. They made lots of friends in the congregation, among whom were Mark Sewell, his wife Mary and their children. Mark Sewell was an elder; however, he began drinking heavily and behaving inappropriately towards female members of the congregation, for example by kissing them on the lips when he greeted them. In 1990, he raped Mrs B after they had been out evangelising together and in 2014 he was convicted of her rape and of indecently assaulting two other people.

In 2017, Mrs B brought a claim for damages against the JWs’ worldwide governing body, the Watchtower and Bible Tract Society of Pennsylvania, and the Trustees of the Barry Congregation, claiming that they were vicariously liable for the rape because of the nature of their relationship with Sewell and because of the connection between that relationship and the commission of the rape. Continue reading →