Christian street preachers acquitted: CPS must now answer questions over attempt to censor public Bible reading

Jul 6, 2017 by Jill

from Barnabas Fund:

Two Christian street preachers have been found not guilty of inciting public disorder at Bristol Crown Court. In February, Michael Stockwell and Michael Overd were convicted at Bristol Magistrates Court of an offence under the Crime and Disorder Act, after police claimed that the crowd around them became disorderly as a result of their preaching. They appealed to the Crown Court and after a 3 day hearing on Friday were found not guilty of religiously aggravated harassment.

Barnabas Fund provided an expert witness, who demonstrated that the content of their preaching was largely quotations from the King James Bible (the “Authorised Version”). However, at their trial in February, the lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) claimed that this was irrelevant, arguing that publicly quoting from the King James Bible in modern Britain should “be considered to be abusive and is a criminal matter”.

Serious questions must now be asked about the conduct of both Avon and Somerset Police, who arrested the preachers, and the CPS. Barnabas Fund has seen the official transcript of the video recording that the two men made of their preaching. The preachers were clearly attracting a crowd of disorderly hecklers who were swearing at and abusing them. Yet none of the hecklers were arrested – only the street preachers who, whilst robust in stating the Biblical teaching, were respectful towards those asking questions.

Read here