For the Love of My Children: The True Story of One Woman’s Struggle to Escape a Brutal British Cult: Starting from her beginnings in an isolated church school run by Peniel Pentecostal Church, described here as an oppressive Christian cult, this narrative recounts how Caroline Green remained imprisoned by them for sixteen years as they continually attempted to brainwash her.

The author’s determination is brought to light as she refused to be controlled, consistently receiving punishment for her disobedience until her spirit was gradually crushed.

Her marriage to the son of one of the cult’s founders is related as well as the poor treatment her three subsequent children began to receive. Illustrating how Caroline was torn between her fear of what God would do to her family if they left and her desperate attempts to protect her children, this autobiography depicts how her outrage reached its peak when her son was brutally beaten following a schoolboy prank.

With his reputation for charismatic sermons, Bishop Michael Reid held sway over a huge congregation on subjects including the virtues of fidelity and family values. But his Pentecostal church in Brentwood, Essex – one of two ministries he runs with a collective turnover of millions – has been left in disarray after it emerged the married father of three did not practise what he preached.

A mother who claims a controversial church ruined her life has begun a legal action for £100,000 damages.