An evangelist convicted in May by a Muslim magistrate of a public order offence for preaching in Taunton has had his conviction overturned.
Michael Overd appealed to Taunton Crown Court. A group of us last Friday (11th December 2015) watched as the Crown’s case collapsed like a house of cards.
Witness Darren Chalmers told the Court that on Saturday 7th June 2014 he was working on a market stall in Taunton. He said he was gay and active in a church. He said he could hear a preacher half-way up the High Street and walked down to hear the views being expressed.
‘Someone asked the preacher a question about homosexuality,’ said Chalmers. ‘The preacher said that homosexuals are sinners and that God made Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve. Being gay and and an openly gay Christian, I accept Adam and Eve but I felt intimidated because in my church I am accepted,’ he went on. ‘It made me question my faith.’
Not a sinner
Judge David Ticehurst asked Chalmers, ”Don’t you question your faith on a daily basis?’
Chalmers replied: ‘Yes, but my faith is strong. I have my prayer support.’ He said he told Mr Overd he was misinterpreting what he believed in. But the judge asked him, ‘Are we not all sinners? Christ said “We have all fallen short …”‘
Chalmers retorted, ‘That’s true from time to time. I’m not a sinner. Then I walked away and was told I was a sinner and had to repent of my sins. On the microphone. And that was it. I felt intimidated and it made me question my faith. It made me feel as a small minority with no place in society.’
Prosecutor Miss Charley Pattison asked the small minority with no place in society: ‘What did you do?’
Chalmers replied: ‘I prayed hard and realised I’m still accepted. Then I rung the police and reported what happened to do with homophobic remarks.’ Of course he did. Later, in cross-examination, we learnt that he added the lie that Mr Overd was being racist just to make sure he would be arrested.
Witness in knots
Chalmers’ evidence intrigued His Honour, who had not yet seen that the Crown’s case that abusive or threatening words with a ‘homophobic’ element to them had been uttered had much substance. ‘Did he say you were a sinner because you were a homosexual?’
‘Yes’, replied Chalmers, ‘he said I was a sinner and had to repent of my sins because I was homosexual.’
‘That’s not what you said before,’ His Honour retorted.
Defence Counsel Michael Philips then stood up to cross-examine Darren Chalmers, pointing out that the addition of ‘because I was homosexual’ was not in his statement to the police, was not mentioned at the earlier magistrate’s hearing and was not spoken off initially in this hearing either.
Eventually, Chalmers had to admit that It was just his feeling, and the words ‘because you are homosexual’ were never uttered.
Equalities in the Workplace
The second prosecution wItness Nigel James Marley was in Taunton for a training session on ‘Equalities in the Workplace’. He heard someone with an amplified voice, it was obviously a preacher, he said, making some ‘pretty nasty remarks’.
The judge wanted to know what he said precisely, but Marley could not remember.
His Honour asked ‘What was the gist?’ To this Marley said,’ The homosexual lifestyle was against the Bible and they were not fit persons’.
‘Fit for what?’ asked His Honour. Marley: ‘I cannot remember’.
There were also exchanges about freedom of expression and its limits. It seemed both prosecution witnesses believed that freedom of speech extended only to the inoffensive.
But Lord Justice Sedley, in his famous 1999 ‘Remond-Bate’ ruling, said, ‘Freedom to say the inoffensive is not worth having’. Speech can include ‘the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and provocative’, said his Lordship.
Where are the words?
But Judge Ticehurst was not concerned with any of that. In order for Michael Overd to be convicted the prosecution needed to prove he had used threatening or abusive words or behaviour. ‘Where are they?’ he asked Miss Pattison. ‘He said Mr Chalmers was a sinner and needed to repent. You need more than that.’
His Honour was not finished: ‘Mr Chalmers was made to feel bad. Mr Marley cannot remember any words. You have to prove that the appellant had used words. What were they?’
Miss Pattison, who has been practicing as a barrister for just two years, did her best, but the writing was on the wall. After a lunch break she threw in the towel.
Neither do I condemn thee
Like the Lord Jesus oversaw in the matter of the woman in adultery, the prosecution had withdrawn its case. And like the Lord Jesus, His Honour had no option but to find the accused not guilty. Michael Overd was duly acquitted.
Then, like the Lord Jesus, David Ticehurst offered some advice. In this case it was not ‘go and sin no more’ but invite homeless people in for tea and cake and preach the Gospel to them indoors.
Michael Overd is not likely to follow that advice. But he is likely to sue the police for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. Yes, we are to forgive our enemies, but if we do not take the poilice to court and make them pay damages, they will never learn and they will just go out and arrest someone else.
Are you in trouble for preaching? Get in touch!
I have heard in recent days of Christian preachers at Speakers’ Corner among other places being arrested, charged, convicted and fined for sharing the Gospel. That is an outrage but it will not happen if they simply contact us as soon as they are arrested or even if they have already been convicted.
The fact is, no preacher, properly represented in court, has ever been convicted of an offence in Britain under the Public Order Act 1986. Not a single one. If you have been arrested for preaching, get in touch with us right now. If you know of someone who has, put them in touch with us right now. Time is always of the essence.
In the alternative, contact Christian Concern, who supported Michael Overd. Just please understand defending a public order charge is not a time for DIY.
Money, or the lack of it, is not a problem. The Lord’s people are not going to stand by and see street preachers convicted. This ministry will fund your defence. Email me on Stephen @ this website or ring me on 07931 490050.
Praise God for this outcome and please pray for Michael and Rachel Overd who have been through a lot and have stood strong by the grace of God.
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I’d much rather be shut up with Charley Pattison than with Sir Stephen Sedley.
My advice is not to send her any tweets complimenting her on her looks. Especially with exclamation marks.
I haven’t got a Twitter account. and I am motivated more by the extreme grimness of Sir Stephen than by the charms of Ms Pattison. If we still had the death penalty, he wouldn’t need to put on the black cap. He would just have to look at you (assuming you were to be hanged, that is) .
Actually, Lord Justice Sedley was one of the most liberal judges on the bench. He would certainly disagree with the death penalty. Judge Jeffreys he was not. (He is still alive but has retired, hence the past tense.) And neither is Judge Ticehurst of the Jeffreys persuasion, to be honest. Curiously enough, Jeffreys’ Bloody Assizes were held at Taunton. And history may have been a little unfair to him. He was required to impose the death penalty for treason.
Can we try to avoid the use of ‘got’? You could say ‘I don’t have a Twitter account.’ I did not get where I am today without being pedantic.
You may remember that my Reverend ancestor wrote his hymn tunes in Langport. Many of my ancestors were hanged by Judge Jeffries, and (for obscure reasons which you might be able to work out) one of my great-great-uncles had “Sedley” as an almost unique Christian name.
“We do have free-range eggs, but we haven’t got any today”. Rox.
“Has your sister got a car ? I haven’t got your keys. Note that ‘have got’ means exactly the same as ‘have’ in this case — it is a present tense of “to have”, not the present perfect of ‘to get” . Michael Swan in “Practical English Usage”, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edn 2010 .
” I don’t have a Twitter account ” and “Do you have a pen, please ?” are American .
Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
That’s pretty much how I remember the trial.
Might I add that the photograph you found of Charley Pattison really was quite stunning?
I do not understand why she persevered though, when it must have been obvious that she had no chance at all of securing a conviction.
I felt sorry for the prosecution witnesses. The judge described them as “frank”, i.e. honest. When pressed, they honestly admitted that they couldn’t remember anything witnessed that might have been a criminal offence. They were put into the front line by whoever wanted a political conviction so badly. Their handlers had not delivered them the basic training in lying through their teeth plausibly that any false witness needs, if he is to emerge from the witness box unscathed.
as in, “yes, we have no bananas”?
That would be a very good point, perhaps an exception to my example with the free-range eggs, but this is after all a comic song, I believe that is was inspired by a Greek greengrocer who didn’t speak English properly .Also it is an American song.
In natural English, the greengrocer would say “I’m sorry, we haven’t got any bananas today”.
Or “Sorry, we ain’t got no banana’s today”. (including the greengrocers’ apostrophe).
no, I agree with you.
Rox, my old friend, shouldn’t it be “greengrocer’s apostrophe”?
No, it shouldn’t.
My thinking was that there was more than one greengrocer, but on the other hand, the convention is probably the same as housemaid’s knee and athlete’s foot, so Mark Jones is probably right on this occasion,
On the other hand, as this is about the greengrocer’s apostrophe, the apostrophe probably does go in the wrong place, so I was right after all. That would make sense. And greengrocers’ notices in greengrocers’ shops often include greengrocers’ apostrophes. That does somehow feel right.
doesn’t happen at my greengrocer’s, Rox
[…] Judge. And then the Crown’s case collapsed at ‘half-time’ in the Crown Court. See our story here. Interesting, isn’t it? Muslim judge hears case and finds preacher guilty. Freemason judge […]