A WORCESTER vicar has been remanded in custody after admitting a sex attack on a teenage girl.

The Rev Nduna Mpunzi, vicar of St Barnabas with Christ Church, admitted indecent assault by touching the unclothed legs and private parts of the victim.

He also admitted common assault on his wife Julie Highway and assaulting a 15-year-old girl by beating.

Mpunzi was vicar of St Barnabas in Rainbow Hill, and Christ Church, Tolladine, from September 2004 until August 2007 when he was suspended following the allegations.

News of his guilty pleas has been met with shock in the parish. His pleas at Worcester Crown Court yesterday came after three hours of discussions between barristers on the day the disgraced minister was due to face trial by jury.

Two more original charges of indecent assault, one of sexual activity with a child and one of assault on a boy by beating will be left to lie on the prosecution file when 61-year-old Mpunzi, of Tolladine Road, Worcester, is sentenced next month.

Prosecutor Abigail Nixon said a decision to avert a four-day trial and accept his pleas would save the victims giving distressing evidence from the witness box.

Mpunzi's marriage had broken down and his crimes created "ramifications" for his future in the Church, she added. The suspended vicar, who was funding his own defence, admitted groping the teenager between May and June 2002. The other two offences were committed last year.

Members of the defendant's family were in the court's public gallery. Some of them were in tears.

He was dressed in a sweater and open-necked shirt with no dog-collar. South Africa-born Mpunzi had spent the last seven months in custody on remand, said Owen Davies QC, defending. He made no application for bail.

Remanding the vicar in custody for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports, Judge Andrew Geddes said he was satisfied the prosecution had balanced the interests of witnesses and the public at large when deciding not to stage a trial.