Bishopbriggs crematorium is a sleek, modern institution. Inside the main chapel, wooden panelling shoots up towards the high ceiling and frames a peaceful cove where an empty plinth lies. The male members of the Johnstone family enter dressed in black, carrying Bob in a coffin. At the back left is Ryan, Bob’s son, his pale chin quivering under dark, shoulder-length hair. He’s tall, but you can tell he’d rather be small in this moment, alone with his grief.
The wistful rockabilly of Buddy Holly accompanies Bob’s entrance. “If you knew, Peggy Sue, then you’d know why I feel blue without Peggy… my Peggy Sue”.
The man standing at the front in a white and purple robe is a familiar face to Ryan and the Johnstones. Reverend Brian Casey was part of a mischievous plan by Jean, wife of Bob, to surprise her husband with a renewal of their wedding vows in June 2016. Reverend Casey conducted the ceremony, which is repeatedly cited in today’s proceedings. Jean died during covid, and Bob, Casey eulogises, “lost a piece of himself”. He lost his Peggy Sue.
Reverend Casey commands the room, rattling through Bob’s love for motorbikes and his uncanny ability to track down his children whenever they needed him, adding the odd “fuck” to an anecdote to snap the mourners out of a slump. He turns to Ryan, who couldn’t speak at his mother’s funeral given the restricted nature of funerals during lockdown; it’s his moment to talk about both his parents. He’s shaken — his phone has no signal and he can't read the speech he's written. With the help of Reverend Casey, he stands up and manages to say that he loves his dad, wishes he was more like him, and that Jean’s death changed Bob forever. Casey is at his side the whole time.
Casey couldn’t conduct Jean Johnstone’s funeral. He was incapacitated, stricken with covid-19. So when Bob died, his family only wanted one man to commit their father — Reverend Brian Casey.
But the reverend they met in 2016 is a very different one in 2026. Then, he was the beloved minister of Springburn Parish Church. Now, he’s a theological nomad, having publicly fallen out with the Church of Scotland (CoS), joining the Old Catholic Apostolic Church, then leaving it and setting up his own faith community, St Jude’s. The CoS is now investigating him over several allegations, which The Bell can reveal are adultery, having an inappropriate relationship, and being ordained into another faith group while still serving as a minister. The Bell can also reveal that Casey is being investigated by Disclosure Scotland, the regulatory body that determines whether someone is fit to work with vulnerable people, over the alleged inappropriate relationship.
To many in Springburn and much of North Glasgow, Casey is a saint. But, in light of these allegations, is he also too much of a sinner?
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