A VICAR who said reggae musician Maxi Priest was one of his former church helpers denied molesting a schoolboy in the early Seventies.

Father Michael Wright, 69, was arrested last year after a 44-year-old man claimed he was molested by the priest when he was 11.

Wright, the vicar of the Anglo-Catholic St Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford, since 1980, was also allegedly involved in a 'group rape' attack on the boy, who cannot be named.

The Edinburgh-born clergyman denies a catalogue of sex charges at St Stephen's Church in Lewisham, southeast London in the 1970s.

And giving evidence, Wright insisted to jurors at Blackfriars Crown Court: "I'm not a paedophile."

He said he had a "very hazy memory" of the church helper who went on to accuse him of rape.

"I would have passed him in the street I'm sure," he added.

Wright said there was "absolutely not" any truth in the very serious claims of sexual assault.

The cleric listed several names of other youngsters who lent a hand in the Seventies, adding that one of them grew up to be Lewisham-born reggae star Maxi Priest.

He said: "One I remember playing truant a lot and his father wasn't around a lot and I helped his mother.

"Trouble is I can't remember his name - I have since been told he became quite a famous pop singer called Maxi Priest."

Wright said he first became aware that the alleged victim was making some sort of complaint against him in 2000 when the man visited St Stephen's with his wife and a social worker.

Rosina Cottage, prosecuting, said: "This must have been the most appalling bolt out of the blue."

The vicar replied: "Yes, it was. I was perplexed because I knew nothing had happened."

Wright, whose address is given as the vicarage at St Barnabas Church in Jericho, Oxford, denies six counts of a serious sexual offence and six of indecent assault.

The trial continues.