It found former clergyman Roderick Sangster guilty of bigamously marrying a woman in Leamington.

Sangster, who a jury heard had selected vulnerable women to marry, fleece and then divorce before moving on to his next victim, had denied charged of bigamy and forgery.

But the jury at Warwick Crown Court took just over an hour to find Sangster, 58, lately of the Bath Hotel in Hetling Court, Bath, guilty of both charges.

The trial had gone ahead in his absence after he had failed to turn up at the court.

And despite being urged by prosecutor David Jones to pass sentence straight away, Judge Marten Coates, who has issued a warrant for Sangster's arrest, adjourned the case until December 5 to allow time for him to be caught.

The Judge, who told the jury bigamy was not a common offence, and it was the first he had dealt with in 35 years as a barrister and Judge, quoted Oscar Wilde's quip: "Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same."

Outside the court Jill Jackson, who was married to Sangster when he went through a wedding to Janet Wallace at St Paul's church in Leamington in July 2004, said: "I am very relieved. But it is just the start. Now we have to find him."

And Det Sgt Cawail Wong said: "It has been a long investigation, and the families and the police are pleased with the outcome.

"At this moment in time they just want to move on with their lives and would ask that their right to privacy is respected.

"If Mr Sangster is reading about the case, then I would ask him to hand himself in to the police or myself."

A spokesman from St Paul's church in Leicester Street, where the illegal marriage took place, said: "St Paul's church went through all its normal procedures in the case of this marriage. This included marriage preparation and the calling of banns, to which no objections were received.

"In the wedding ceremony, each party is required to declare that they know of no lawful impediment why they may not be married. Mr Sangster therefore withheld information about his previous marriage when asked."

The vicar of St Paul's, the Rev Jonathan Jee, said: "This is a very disturbing case which has saddened all at St Paul's. We believe that marriage is a gift from God and a life-long commitment to one other person. This case has caused a great deal of pain and sorrow and our thoughts and prayers are with those involved."

During the trial the jury heard that Sangster, a former Church of Scotland minister and policeman who has more recently worked in the hotel trade, had refused to give Jill a divorce before moving on to marry Janet.

Mr Jones said Sangster chose ladies who were fairly financially secure, but vulnerable, and after his 25-year marriage to Frances Richards, now Tait, ended he met Jill in October 1994 and proposed to her the following year.

They had gone as far as arranging their wedding in Florida when, after applying for a mortgage, the broker found out he was still married and told Jill.

He then admitted he was still married, and got a divorce before their wedding took place.

When his mother died Sangster could no longer get his hands on money from a trust fund set up for him and his children, who lived with Frances – so he 'did what seemed a noble act' by adopting Jill's two children, who would then benefit, so he could get to the money that way.

In 2000 Sangster stole £10,000 from Victoria Wines, for whom he was working, but escaped a prison sentence – and Jill stood by him.

"He left her in September 2002 and she found she was £30,000 in debt, money he had borrowed which she knew nothing about, and she was declared bankrupt. She started divorce proceedings.

"At first he co-operated, but then something caused him to have a change of heart and in the New Year of 2003 he wrote a letter dated the 13th of February."

It said: 'I'd have given you whatever you wanted, divorce, cash, anything, but you'll get nothing. You don't even get a divorce because you won't be able to reach me.'

After that he moved to Evesham where he started internet dating and met Janet, who was recovering from cancer at the time, after describing himself on the dating site as being divorced, which he also told her when they met.

Janet told the court she had changed her name back to Wallace, the surname of her children, "because I do not want to be Sangster any longer".

She said that after their marriage in Leamington they moved to Scotland where, at first, Sangster was working at the Old Course hotel at St Andrews, before leaving because, he claimed, he was writing a book.

He claimed to have a publishing deal through an agent in London for £107,000 for the book, and there was regular correspondence between them.

But after he 'disappeared, ran away' on February 20 last year, she discovered that the 'agent' was at an intenet domain name Sangster had bought – so he was effectively writing to himself.

Of their finances, she said they each had their own accounts, a joint account for household bills from which Sangster took £1,250 on the day he left, and a First Direct joint account although she did not have access to it.

They had a mortgage with Northern Rock, and after Sangster had left she discovered he had earlier applied for a £10,000 loan on which he had forged her signature, and it was paid into the First Direct account to which only he had access.

Adam Western, defending, put to her: "You agreed to him signing the form on behalf of both of you. He did it with your express consent."

But Janet responded firmly: "I absolutely disagree with that."