“One man with God is in the majority” – Britain’s ‘most arrested’ street preacher in victory for free speech – again

Apr 7, 2019 by Andrew Symes

From Christian Concern.

In a victory for freedom of speech, Britain’s ‘most arrested’ street preacher, Mike Overd, has walked free from conviction after his fifth prosecution.

With four previous prosecutions – and no convictions – street preacher Mike Overd was accused in January of this year of ‘offending’ members of the public and charged with ‘anti-social behaviour’. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) withdrew the charge because the police inspector had not signed the right paperwork.

After preaching in Bridgwater town centre for around 20 minutes, the police became involved when a member of the public complained that Mr Overd was offending people in the crowd around him. However, when the police attempted to hand him a Section 35 order, asking him to leave the vicinity, Mr Overd refused on the grounds that he was exercising his right to free speech.

Mr Overd’s lawyer, Michael Phillips, believes police ‘requiring’ street preachers to leave the immediate vicinity is a new police tactic to prohibit their freedom of speech. However, Christian Legal Centre has a 100% track record of getting street preachers acquitted, which suggests that police are overstepping their powers.

In the now viral video of the arrest of street preacher Oluwole Ilesanmi, police used the same tactic to try to stop him from preaching, claiming that he had also offended members of the public. Police later de-arrested him, but not before they had forcibly removed him from the area and dropped him off miles from his home. Mr Ilesanmi’s arrest is now being investigated.

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