I feared a scandal, priest tells stalker trial

A CATHOLIC priest fought back tears as he told a court how his vocation would have ended if he had been involved in any scandal.

Father William MacLean, 41, made clear that he would be forced out of the Church during evidence at the trial of a Czech-born hotel worker accused of stalking him.

Fr MacLean told Portree Sheriff Court how the alleged interest shown by Marcela Lucanova left him fearing he would no longer be able to remain a priest.

The 30-year-old Ms Lucanova has plead not guilty to causing the priest fear and alarm between February and October 2014, by bombarding him with emails and repeatedly turning up at his flat above St Mary’s Catholic Church in Portree on the Isle of Skye.

On the second day of the trial, Fr MacLean said he believed she was not “in her right mind”, adding: “I was worried she might harm herself or take her own life.”

The court heard that he been at the church for four years, and a priest for 12.

He repeatedly refused to discuss with Duncan Burd, defending Ms Lucanova, whether he had taken confession from her.

Fr MacLean said: “You know I cannot answer that. I am under the seal.’

Trial sheriff Richard Davidson interjected: “You are not being asked what might have been discussed, just if you ever took confession from her.”

He replied: “I cannot answer that. I cannot make any allusion to confession.”

The trial continues.