Pervert Edinburgh priest targeted woman in her own home on Christmas Day

A pervert priest sexually assaulted a young woman at his home - while she and her family visited him on Christmas Day.

Father Martins Enegbuma pounced on the victim after she delivered a Christmas meal for him at a property next door to the Our Lady Mother of the Church in Currie, Edinburgh.

Enegbuma, 44, picked the woman up in his arms and spun her around before touching her on the body and kissing her on the mouth.

The cleric, originally from Nigeria, was also said to have “repeatedly lunged” at the woman as she sat on stairs.

Disgraced priest Father Martins Enegbuma tried to hide his face at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

The victim’s mother was said to have witnessed some of the assault and described his behaviour to a court as “un-priestly”.

Enegbuma denied the allegations but was found guilty following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

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Following his conviction the Catholic Church issued an apology to the victim and praised her bravery at reporting the attack.

Prosecutor Ross Price told the court the woman attended the church with her mother and brother in the early afternoon of Christmas Day 2020.

Mr Price said the woman visited the priest “full of good intentions” as she brought him a meal but she eventually had to flee the home after Enegbuma forced himself on her.

The fiscal depute said the “spinning” incident was “not simply picking her up but an embrace” and that the priest had “instigated a campaign of sexual touching” against the victim.

Then court also heard the priest ran his hands up and down her body and that he had kissed her hand and forehead.

Enegbuma ,of Niddrie, Edinburgh, began fondling her feet and embracing her.

The attacks on the woman were said to have lasted around 45 minutes before she asked her mother if they could all leave the property.

The court heard that the woman was “repulsed” by Enegbuma’s behaviour towards her and that there had been “demonstrably no consent”.

Mr Price added Enegbuma had given the woman a three second “lingering kiss” while her mother was in the next room doing dishes.

Following a deliberation, Sheriff Adrian Fraser said he found the victim and her mother to be “reliable and credible” and added that he was “satisfied there was no consent” and there “was no reasonable doubt” the priest had carried out the sex assault.

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Enegbuma was found guilty of the charge and was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register. He will be sentenced next month.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of St. Andrews & Edinburgh said: “When the allegations against Fr Martins were brought to our attention in 2021 he was immediately removed from active ministry in line with safeguarding procedures.

“The Archdiocese cooperated fully with the Police Scotland investigation. It will now be for the court to determine a sentence, following which Fr Martins will return home to Nigeria to face a canonical investigation.

“The Archdiocese offers a profound apology to the person who was subject to this assault and commends their courage in reporting it.”

Enegbuma was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman by picking her up, kissing her hand and forehead, running his hands down her body, repeatedly lunging at her, rubbing her foot, compressing her toe and embracing her at a property at Lanark Road West, Edinburgh, on December 25, 2020.

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