Bristol Magistrates Convict Preachers

Bristol Court tramples on freedom of speech

A magistrates court in Bristol has convicted two Christian preachers charged with public order offences.

The case against two other men collapsed.

Justices of the Peace Mr Robert Stacey (Chairman), Mr Gerry McDermot and Mrs Josephine Ramsden gave judgment on Tuesday 28th February 2017. The justices rode roughshod over principles of freedom of speech set out in a catalogue of previous cases.

They imposed a fine and costs on each convicted totalling £2016.

Afterwards it emerged Robert Stacey is a high-ranking Freemason – Click here for our investigation into ‘the craft’.

The case arose over an outreach in Bristol city centre last July (2016). Four preachers were setting out the Gospel in front of John Wesley’s Chapel in Broadmead.

Out of the four, Don Karns had charges laid and then withdrawn. Having heard the prosecution case against Adrian Clark, their worships decided he had no case to answer. That left Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell who were found guilty today.

Public Order Act

The men were prosecuted under the Public Order Act 1986. This says, at Section 5:
‘(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—
‘(a) uses threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or
‘(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening or abusive, ‘within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.’

The Court saw a video of the whole event recorded by one of the defendants.

In the video Mr Overd described the crowd as ‘depraved’ because of their ignorance of God. He told them he had been like that himself. He said all mankind were liars and thieves, and he specifically included Mohammed and the Buddha in that. Allah was a false god, he said, and only Jesus Christ was the way to salvation. He denounced extra-marital sex and homosexual behaviour.

Crossed the line

But the Crown, said Mr Ian Jackson, prosecuting, held that these ‘crossed the line’.

Mr Stockwell told the crowd the ‘Thief comes to kill, steal and destroy’. ‘People were on their way to hell because of their failure to adopt the world view of Christianity’, said Mr Jackson.

The inclusion of homosexuality in a list containing thieves and drunkards also crossed the line into abuse.

But Michael Phillips, defending, told the court the list of sinners was in the Bible, at 1Cor 6:9-10. It was the same passage cited in the Appeal Court case of Alison Redmond-Bate, where important principles of free speech were laid down and her conviction set aside.

There, as in this case, said Mr Phillips, a hostile crowd gathered and the police were called to maintain order. There, as in this case, the preachers rather than the trouble-makers were wrongly arrested.

Witnesses gave false evidence

The prosecution brought four witnesses. Event Sales Manager Dimitri Lavallée, describing himself as a Buddhist, had called the police, by falsely telling them the preachers were making racist and homophobic statements. He saw no violence and heard no threats. He evidently did not like ‘peoples faith and lifestyle choices’ being criticised.

Witness Ahsanul Khan said he was shopping and engaged the preachers about Islam and the authenticity of the Bible. He agreed he enjoyed the cut and thrust of debate. But he did not like the preachers ‘saying all of us were sinners’. They were ‘discriminating us’, he said.

Alexander Walker could not remember the substance of any remarks but said some in the crowd were ‘incensed’ by them.

Finally, Lindsay Tamsin Powell said she was in Bristol’s Broadmead saw a placard about Islam and heard the preachers say gay people ‘would burn in hell’. A preacher told a gay person he was ‘disgusting’, she said.

She stayed for about an hour, did not see any violence, but said she was ‘upset’. Ms Powell did not to see people ‘hated on’. She thought we should be ‘nice to each other’. The preachers ‘told a Muslim guy he would burn in hell’, she said.

Mr Phillips asked Lindsay Powell to identify which man in the dock said gays and Muslims would ‘burn in hell’. She pointed to Mr Stockwell. But it was never said, Mr Phillips told her. ‘Disgusting’ was never said either. There was no anti-Islam placard. Her testimony was false.

All the witnesses accepted they had stayed around and anyone was free to listen or to leave.

Provoking violence?

Mr Robert Stacey, speaking on behalf of the bench, said the case revolved around whether the individual behaviour of the two defendants crossed the line between freedom of speech and public disorder. He said the case law set the bar very high before the law should intervene. Speakers had to ‘move into the territory of provoking violence’, he said.

The court heard no evidence of any violence. But the bench held the mere fact some disorderly elements in the crowd became restless meant the preachers had provoked violence. Mr Stacey, who had some difficulty in reading what he had written and pronouncing long words like ‘Catholicism;, said the preachers were abusive and disorderly.

In addition, they were motivated by hostility to religious beliefs and therefore the offence was ‘aggravated’. This was despite the statute law saying religious aggravation only kicked in when hatred was directed at members of a religious group, not at their religious beliefs in isolation.

The case was proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’, added Mr Stacey.

Bristol case highlights uncertainty

Mr Phillips told Christian Voice there was an automatic right of appeal to the Crown Court to be heard by a circuit judge, far more learned in the law than lay magistrates. Moreover, it is almost certain the convictions will be quashed there. But in the meantime, Mr Overd and Mr Stockwell have this conviction hanging over them and other preachers – and the law – appear to be in a state of uncertainty.

It surely cannot stand, as Mr Overd reported, that some police forces maintain the right of preachers to freedom of speech while others arrest them. There should be much better guidance both to police forces in the United Kingdom and to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell have appealed to the Crown Court.  The last time that happened, the Crown’s case collapsed.  It will again.  What happened last time is still a good read!  Street preaching is legal!

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