Cult vicar may have convinced his victims he was ‘closer to God’

The alleged victims of a Christian cult leader may have been brainwashed into believing he was ‘closer to God’ than they were, a court heard. Chris Brain, 68, denies 37 offences against 13 women who were involved in his Sheffield based evangelical movement called Nine O’Clock Service. He led NOS from 1986 to 1995 before it collapsed due to allegations of widespread sexual and psychological abuse. Brain employed a team of ‘home-based’ young women wearing tight-fitting clothes to help him…