An English cardinal has told an inquiry into child abuse of his shock at learning that a vicar general of his former archdiocese tried to help two paedophile priests escape to the United States.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) revealed for the first time that Mgr Daniel Leonard, a former vicar general of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, ordered a priest to tip off Fr Samuel Penney that he was about to be arrested and to give him cash to flee to the US.

It also revealed that Mgr Leonard, who is now deceased, provided Fr James Robinson with a good character reference so he could transfer to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, even though the priest was facing allegations of child abuse in the UK.