Prosecutor says Philip Wilson would not be able to look after his own affairs, let alone act as archbishop, if his dementia was as serious as claimed

A NSW prosecutor has suggested if Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson is as demented as it’s claimed, he could not look after his own affairs, let alone keep his job as one of the country’s leading clergymen.

Wilson, 67, is the most senior Catholic official in the world to be charged with concealing child sexual assault.

He failed to appear at Newcastle local court this week.

On Friday, crown prosecutor Gareth Harrison told the court he had concerns about a letter Wilson sent to the Archdiocese of Adelaide on Tuesday declaring he would not resign until doctors advised him his Alzheimer’s disease was affecting his ability to do his job.

Harrison said Wilson’s letter was sent soon after neurologist Andrew Lee had told the court the archbishop had scored an abnormally low 23 out of 30 in a cognitive assessment test during a consultation on 17 November.

Harrison said such a low score indicated he was so impaired he would not be able to look after his own affairs and would need someone to be his power of attorney.

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The prosecutor said the test results were in “stark contrast” to the archbishop’s letter sent to his archdiocese following the court hearing.

In the letter, Wilson states: “If a point comes in the next eight years before my mandatory retirement as Archbishop of Adelaide, at 75 years of age, and I am advised by my doctors that the effects of Alzheimer’s disease might be beginning to impair my ability to function properly as archbishop, I will offer my resignation to the Holy Father.”

Harrison told the court on Friday: “Clearly the accused [Wilson] is saying he has not been advised by his doctors that he has any significant impairment.”

Dr Lee has diagnosed Wilson with Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive difficulties.

But he accepted it was also possible the archbishop was malingering, which was why he believed more definitive testing was needed.

Wilson, who was not required to appear in court on Friday after having had a pacemaker fitted on 22 November, will now be tested by neuropsychologist Dr Emma Scamps in Adelaide on Tuesday afternoon to find out if he is capable of understanding the case against him.

Magistrate Caleb Franklin, who was told the earliest Scamps could see Wilson was on Tuesday, ordered that the case return to court on Wednesday, to give the archbishop time to travel to Newcastle if he is found fit to stand trial.

If Wilson is found unfit, the trial is expected to be adjourned until next year.

Defence barrister Stephen Odgers SC told the court on Friday if Dr Scamps found Wilson was not significantly impaired it was the archbishop’s desire for his trial to begin on Wednesday.

Wilson has pleaded not guilty to concealing information about the sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy in 1971 by the priest James Fletcher in the NSW Hunter region. Fletcher died in 2006.

Odgers said the complainant, who claimed to have had a conversation with Wilson in 1976 about what Fletcher had done, would be able to give evidence next week if the trial went ahead.

He said the case against Wilson came down to an alleged conversation dating back 41 years.

The prosecution has indicated 16 witnesses will be called during the trial.

In June the NSW court of appeal dismissed Wilson’s third attempt to have the proceedings against him quashed or permanently stayed.