THE boards that govern Pewsey charity Barnabas Fund met this week to consider what action to take after its international director was found guilty of sexually assaulting a member of staff.

Patrick Sookhdeo was also found to have intimidated two employees who were due to give evidence against him.

The jury at Swindon Crown Court found the 67-year-old guilty on all counts.

He was ordered to serve a three-month community order for all three charges, to run concurrently.

He was placed on a three-month curfew and ordered to pay costs of £3,500 and a victim surcharge of £60.

Sookhdeo carried out the assault in February last year on a woman in the Pewsey offices of the St Barnabas Trust, a charity which helps persecuted Christians across the world.

The court heard Sookhdeo called the woman into his office for a meeting and put his hand on her thigh.

She was later called back to the office and he asked her: “What would your reaction be if I reached out and touched your breasts?”

He said “would you excuse me if I touch your breasts?” before he carried out the assault, the court heard.

The woman said his behaviour was “completely inappropriate” and left her “stunned and shocked”.

Sookhdeo was found guilty of one charge of sexual assault and two counts of intimidating a witness. Barnabas UK launched an internal investigation and temporarily suspended him from his duties but in June 2014, Sookhdeo was reinstated after the board decided that there was insufficient evidence of sexual assault.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by UK board chairman Reverend Ian McNaughton and international board chairman Reverend Albrecht Hauser, the charity said: “We are of course very saddened by this outcome. Rest assured the work of the Barnabas Fund will continue and the goals and projects the fund is engaged in with the suffering church worldwide will carry on. The Barnabas Fund boards are needing time to consider this verdict.”