Priest recovering after stab attack

A Roman Catholic priest was recovering in hospital yesterday after being stabbed in the back at his church. Father Edward Carroll, 63, was stabbed between the shoulder blades as he went to a kitchen to make tea for a man who had come for help to the Sacred Heart Church, Holloway, north London.

Police said it was thought the man had followed the priest to the kitchen and stabbed him with a kitchen knife. The victim was taken to the Whittington Hospital and later transferred to the Middlesex. His condition was today said to be "serious but stable". Scotland Yard said the man had called at the church, was allowed in and engaged the priest in conversation.

After the stabbing, a man telephoned police and later gave himself up in Holloway.