He then moved to St Paul's Church, Harold Hill, where he was successively an assistant curate (1994–1995), priest-in-charge (1995–1997), and vicar (1997–2000).

Cockett was born on 24 May 1959 in Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, in India, where his father was working as a missionary doctor.

[4][7] He worked at the Inland Revenue for five years, and then became the Practice Manager of the Bethnal Green Medical Mission, a GP surgery in London.

[2] This was a two-year part-time scheme that was led by Laurie Green and aimed to prepare its students for theological college.

[2] Cockett was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon on 30 June 1991 by John Waine, the Bishop of Chelmsford,[9] and as a priest in 1992.

[2][4][10] During the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, he was chosen as one of the 193 multi-faith chaplains, and he ministered to the athletes and officials of the games.

[7][10] His archdeaconry originally covered the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest;[10] since the creation of the Archdeaconry of Barking in 2013, it has covered Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest.

[14] In September 2014, he additionally became the Chair of the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Education which oversees 140 church schools.

[4] He is a keen musician, having held a music scholarship at Forest School and having been a boy chorister at St Paul's Cathedral.