A Catholic priest has described how he struggled for two years to fend off the advances of an 'infatuated' parishioner was determined to break his vow of celibacy.
Father William MacLean, 41, said Czech-born hotel worker Marcela Lucanova, 30, repeatedly stalked him at St Mary's Church where he is the parish priest in Portree, Skye.
He alleged in court that he was also beseiged by emails, including one in which she asked for a holiday snap of him in a mankini.
It came as the trial got under way of Ms Lucanova, who has pleaded not guilty to the offence at the town's sheriff court.
The court heard she joined the parish in 2013, whereupon a 'healthy' friendship developed between the pair.
But as the months went by Ms Lucanova became more intense towards him and called him 'My Littler Lamb' verbally and in emails.
Fr MacLean said he asked her to stop addressing him in that way, but she refused.
He told fiscal Stewart Maciver: "I felt that as a person who took a vow of celibacy that term was not appropriate. Celibacy was discussed. I can't remember who raised it first.
"I may have voiced that I wondered if it would ever change. I felt she used it to try and undermine my priesthood. She wanted me to leave the priesthood for her.
"It made me question my own calling. Where my future lay. She threatened to take her own life."
He was asked by Sheriff Richard Davidson if he felt he was being blackmailed to engage with Ms Lucanova or otherwise she would commit suicide.
Fr MacLean said: "I thought it was a real threat and I had to act on it.
"I did not feel safe in her presence if nobody else was there.
"I thought she wanted to have a relationship with me.She sent me an email saying she wanted me to leave the priesthood and marry her.
"She wanted some sort of physical intimacy. Latterly I blocked her emails."
Fr MacLean said that on one occasion she left her care in the church car-park all weekend and he feared that people would think she was inside.
He described how Ms Lucanova drove to Kilmarnock and delivered a three-page letter for his hospital consultant brother at work which claimed the priest wanted to be married like him. He denied the claim.
"One of the biggest things you have to consider when you go into the priesthood is the celibacy issue. Some leave over this rather than complete their priest training."
He denied being attracted to Ms Lucanova.
Fr MacLean said he found it a 'stressful and disturbing' experience and reported the matter to the police in October.
He added: "Marcela said people in the parish were gossiping about me having a girlfriend. I like being a priest, but I am not perfect. Everybody has their good days and bad days. She was infatuated with me.
"There was no risk to my celibacy but there was a risk of scandal."
She said the parishoner in an email used the words "foxy," "mankini," and "lycra."
He added: "She asked me to send her a photo from my holidays of me in a mankini. She raised the matter of actual physical intimacy."
In one email, the court heard Ms Lucanova talked about ' a woman who knows how to seduce a man' and described him as 'weak and immature''
Defence lawyer Duncan Burd told the priest there was a photograph of a sponsored cycle ride with his arm round Ms Lucanova, but Father MacLean said it was a group photograph.
The priest,who also ministers at Broadford, Kishorn and Dornie, denied a suggestion he had done anything to encourage intimacy. He added: "I did not repeatedly tell her I was unhappy about not having sexual relations."
The trial was adjourned until next week.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article