from Premier
A Christian street preacher has had charges relating to a Non-Crime Hate Incident (NCHI) dropped, after questioning a member of the public on Islamic teachings around women.
John Steele, a regular street preacher in Rotherham, described the experience as “degrading”. He was arrested on 21st June 2025 after engaging in a short conversation with a Muslim woman at a public awareness stall offering support to women of ethnic minorities experiencing domestic abuse.
Mr Steele asked, using a small microphone in Rotherham town centre, how Islamic teachings on wife-beating could be reconciled with the stall’s message.
His lawyers at the Christian Legal Centre say he was referring to the controversial verse in the Quran 4:34, which says: “Men are in charge of women… good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them.” (Pickthall translation)
He then shared that by comparison, the Bible instructs men to love their wives as Christ loves the Church.
Police bodycam footage shows him being informed of a public complaint against him, with officers requiring him to give his name and address for “anti-social” behaviour.