Bevan Malcom
Bevan Malcolm’s 1980 suicide is one of the best researched examples of a death directly attributable to the evil doctrines of the cult known as the Exclusive Brethren. Convincing evidence that the 38-year old father of eight was intensely pressured by the Exclusive Brethren before he committed suicide led Timaru coroner Edgar Bradley to state:
“There is no doubt in my mind that there is a direct link between the pressures exerted by some members of the Exclusive Brethren Church and this suicide.”
With remarkable insight, the Timaru Coroner also stated:
“When religion ceases to be concerned with love, humility and tolerance then, whatever it is, it is certainly not Christian.”
When they moved to Timaru in the early 1970’s, Bevan and Sarah had 4 children. It was not an easy move as they were moving into a relatively isolated Exclusive Brethren community and away from established family and friends. This unselfish act was not likely to have been financially motivated and was one of those now commonplace EB population / political adjustments. It was designed to help boost the aging and declining population of the Exclusive Brethren living there. At that time, including the Malcolm family, there were only 5 Exclusive Brethren families in Timaru. Sarah and Bevan Malcolm went on to have 4 further children.
Bevan Malcolm had trained as a school teacher but, as demanded by the cult, he now ran his own business - a small garden supplies shop selling glasshouses and equipment. Bevan provided well for his family and was a respected businessman in the small town of Timaru. The family purchased a large house and Bevan kindly built a small flat onto the house to accommodate an elderly spinster who required some assistance with everyday living.
As time passed, Bevan was elevated to a leading role and even attended the Bristol 3-day meetings for several years running. On his return from these annual events, he would always bring little gifts back for all the children in Timaru … there were then approximately 20 children in the community.
Over the course of time, several other families were also asked to migrate. One was Alistair Suckling and his wife Carolyn - several years later John Brewerton and his wife Janice also settled in Timaru.
Quite unexpectedly, on February 23rd 1980, Bevan was ’shut-up’ (Exclusive Brethren ’shunning’). Apparently he had made a public comment on the Aberdeen incident many years previously and had not confessed that he held an opinion other than the acceptable Brethren version. It is believed that these comments ‘came to light’ when the Brethren were converting data from an old recording system onto newer recording technology and his ‘unacceptable comments’ were discovered.
As is usual in Exclusive Brethren discipline, Sarah was also ’shut-up’, but Bevan attempted to keep the family together by refusing to allow all of the children leave to live with other Brethren families. A lawyer called Kevin Ryan, used frequently at the time by the Exclusive Brethren, was retained to draw up marital separation papers for Sarah. At this stage the Exclusive Brethren began permitting Sarah and the children to visit during breaks in-between meetings on Sunday.
As the Exclusive Brethren pressure was brought to bear on him, three of the children went to live with Alistair Suckling. In an attempt to try and keep his large family intact, Bevan contacted another ex-member, Phil Hickmott, who had been withdrawn from several years earlier and had also lost a number of his children to the Exclusive Brethren. Bevan was seen having dinner with Phil at a local restaurant (Cobb & Co.) one evening, and this is believed to have helped seal his fate as far as the Exclusive Brethren were concerned.
The then ‘Elect Vessel’, James Symington, made a pronouncement and on April 25th, 1980 Bevan Malcolm was withdrawn from (excommunicated). On May 4th, 1980, from his farm in Neche, ND, Symington then demanded that Sarah should separate from Bevan. The standard ripping apart of an Exclusive Brethren family had begun.
Bevan was being regularly grilled by Alister Suckling and John Brewerton who were acting as ‘priests’, while Sarah was living a separate life in the same house as Bevan. Alister Suckling and John Brewerton applied immense pressure on Bevan to sign marital separation papers to allow Sarah and the children to leave him and return to the Exclusive Brethren. As a side note, during this time, with Bevan withdrawn from, Alistair Suckling was elevated to the coveted position of the new Local Lead and attended the 3-day meetings in Bristol in June 1980.
Bevan Alfred Malcolm took his own life on September 8th, 1980. He was found dead in his blue Bedford van in the garage at their family home. In the pocket of his pyjamas was a farewell note. He died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Exclusive Brethren held a funeral for Bevan, which was attended by most of the ‘heavies’ of the day – Don Scarlett, Frank Rich etc. Sarah Malcolm was quiet during the funeral meeting as she was sedated. The Exclusive Brethren arranged for reinforcements at the graveside and the extra numbers formed a large circle around the grave to keep the ‘Outs’ from getting too close. Phil Hickmott, the ex-member who had tried to help Bevan, was present with his wife and he was heard to state loudly at one stage: “you poor deluded Brethren!”.
Sarah Malcolm and the children were well taken care of by the Exclusive Brethren. The mortgage was paid off, a new car purchased and full relocation costs back to Nelson were paid. Bevan Malcolm’s brother sold the business and tidied up any unfinished matters. Sarah and the children were treated like heroes and were elevated to the status of local royalty, wanting for nothing. They are all still in the Exclusive Brethren and have all married with the exception of one son, who continues to live with Sarah.
Exclusive Brethren members packed the subsequent coroner’s inquest. The Exclusive Brethren tried to discredit Bevan’s diary which was produced at the inquest. They said his personal diary was “irrelevant to his death”. They also claimed that he did not write the diary “as his name was spelt in several places as ‘Beven’” rather than Bevan (with an ‘a’). With typical Exclusive Brethren disregard for truth, they obliquely inferred that an ‘Out’ had written the diary!
The Coroner’s findings were an indictment against the Exclusive Brethren:
Coroner’s Summing Up At The Inquest Into The Death Of Bevan Malcolm
Edgar Bradley, Coroner
Timaru Court 9 December, 1980“In spite of the evidence given by Mrs Malcolm it appeared she had almost been a bystander involved in a series of events over which she had little control.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that there is a direct link between the pressures exerted by some members of the Exclusive Brethren Church and this suicide.”
“I have the uneasy feeling that these members, without any qualms, will have fully justified to themselves their part in the events leading up to Mr. Malcolm’s death, fortified, no doubt, by some text (of scripture) taken out of context.”
“When religion ceases to be concerned with love, humility and tolerance, then, whatever it is, it is not Christianity.”
Although Bevan’s death shook the small community of Timaru Exclusive Brethren, they continued to defend their actions and claimed that his suicide was not directly related to him being withdrawn from, nor due to the immense pressure exerted on him to separate from his wife with the almost certain loss of his children.
