'Priest' jailed for two years

When Rebecca Bayliss's husband David died, she turned to a man they trusted to conduct his funeral service.

Even before his death aged 46, Mr Bayliss had said he would only entrust Norkett to conduct his funeral service.

When Mr Bayliss died, Norkett dressed in dog collar, clerical shirt and cassock to ensure a dignified ceremony.

What the couple had not known was that Norkett, 41, was a convicted sex offender who was not a man of the cloth.

He had deceived them by dressing up as a cleric called Father Terry Moat, a guise he had regularly taken on, often turning himself into the bogus priest just to go to the pub.

As a priest, he was treated with respect and those around him had faith in him.

Norkett, of Collonade Gardens, Eastbourne, was jailed for two years yesterday after Lewes Crown Court Court heard how he carried off the bizarre deception.

The court heard he was jailed for two years at Norwich Crown Court in 1999 after being convicted of gross indecency with a young boy.

The judge placed him under a ten-year sex offender order which included a ban on him adopting the guise of a cleric.

However, he breached that order when he conducted chef Mr Bayliss's funeral service at Eastbourne crematorium in August, said Ann Toynbee, prosecuting.

His deception only surfaced when police found religious garments, including a clerical shirt and two white dog collars, at his home during a routine sex offender check.

He admitted to police he had dressed as a minister at least twice a week for the year he had been living in Eastbourne.

Describing the case as bizarre, Alissa Scott-Beckett, defending, said Norkett had a lack of confidence and found it easier to make friends while in the guise of a minister.

She said Norkett understood it was a token ceremony and the official service would take place in New Zealand where Mr Bayliss' remains would be taken by his widow.

The judge ordered the destruction of the garments seized by police.