Police to pay £4,000 to preacher over sermon arrest
Monday 13th December 2010, 12:04PM GMT.
Police have been ordered to pay compensation to a Shropshire Christian street preacher who was hauled off in handcuffs after a member of the public claimed his sermon was offensive to homosexuals.
A judge condemned the arrest of Anthony Rollins, who quoted from the King James Bible as he preached in Birmingham in 2008.
Police said they were now considering an appeal.
Mr Rollins, from Whitchurch, was handcuffed and held in a cell for nearly four hours after a passer-by dialled 999 and complained his language was “hugely offensive”.
He was handing out leaflets in the city centre and quoting passages which referred to homosexuality.
The ruling ended with West Midlands Police ordered to pay more than £4,000 in damages to the 45-year-old preacher.
Judge Lance Ashworth QC told Birmingham County Court the arrest was not done “maliciously, spitefully or arrogantly” but was done “unthinkingly.”
Mr Rollins has been speaking on city streets as a member of a Christian mission for 12 years.
Mr Rollins said: “The judgment is excellent news. But I didn’t do this for the compensation. I did it for freedom of speech.”
The ruling was praised by the Christian Institute, the think tank which backed Mr Rollins’s court claim.
Spokesman Mike Judge said: “Street preachers may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are part of our Christian heritage. The police have no business arresting Christians for quoting the Bible.”
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “Police acknowledge the court ruling and will be considering whether to appeal or not.”
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I feel the compensation is unjust as if we wanted to preached at we would attend church not be barraged every time we walk the streets of town with the disgusting and hurtful tripe that comes from his mouth and at the end of the day its his interpratation of the bible and should keep his opinions to himself.
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Funny that, because many people feel this way when militant homosexuals try pushing their message too.
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Well said Helen.
Seems like if any form of Christianity is preached or brought up, there always seem to be a problem but if it’s other religion or minority group that seems to be OK.
By the way I’m not religious and if I see or hear someone preaching in the street I have the right (so far) to stop and listen or keep on walking.
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I’ve seen a few preachers in the streets but I can’t recall any gay person ever standing in the street and criticising my for my heterosexual lifestyle.
Granted, gay people have marches on ‘pride’ days, occasionally demonstrate when there have been clear instances of hatred or discrimination against them, and will put up a robust argument against individuals who show bigoted views – but I’ve never heard of a gay person attacking someone simply for being a Christian.
The ‘preacher’ in this case had taken it upon himself to ‘push his message’ by going to a public place and shouting his message, which he must have known would be offensive to some. He has a right to his views, and a right to express them, but not in a way that is calculated to cause offence in public – that’s why we have laws about breach of the peace.
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I have seen a few gay pride parades in my life…
If I find them offensive, and these parades exist purely to ‘push this message’ by going to a public place, then should they be hauled of to jail for the afternoon? They are shouting their message knowing that it will be offensive to some, and is calculated to cause offence in public, so is it a breach of peace?
This is a clear case of a homosexual attacking someone and having them jailed purely for being a Christian.
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here here
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Nobody likes to be preached at, but the fundamental difference is that one is preaching intolerance while the other is trying to preach tolerance. I know which one I would regard more favourably.
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Jake,
You’ve hit the nail on the head. If there is a parade for ‘gay rights’ etc. it is a general procession which people can take an interest in or not. I’m sure of any of those involved were haranguing people in the street simply for having religious beliefs, they too would find themselves on the wrong side of legislation concerning public order.
This man clearly set out to cause offence, and was treated in the same way as anyone who set out to provoke a breach of the peace, regardless of the subject matter or motivation.
Oh and Andrew, I think the phrase you were struggling for was ‘hear hear’.
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Trecey Davies,the interratation was not his,but the King James Bible, we have a free country, however with this freedom comes resposibiall all the best
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Unlike Tracey, I did not see or hear Mr Rollins preach, so I cannot confirm if what “comes out of his mouth” was “disgusting ands hurtful tripe.”
I presume, however, that Tracey did hear his words.
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yes i’ve heard him when he’s preachin and he comes right up in your face and you tell him politely that your not interested because thats how i was brought up to be polite and he persists in shouting after me in the street that i will burn in hell for not listening in front ofmy children you don’t think that is hurtfull? my children are brought up to believe if they wish and be tolerant of people of all colour,creed or race.
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I have never heard so much twaddle in my entire life, has someone told him that god is just a fairy tale?
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I fully agree. That is not a religious script. It is a political document transcribed at the request of King James I in the early 17th century with the sole intention of suppressing civil and political unrest. Check out the date of the gunpowder plot.
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prove it.
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Why? Surely the burden of proof is on those who claim the existence of something which, so far, has failed to provide them with any supporting evidence?
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“fairy tale” An unfortunate term given the topic.(Homosexuals might get offended by the word “fairy”)
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And they’ll tell you that they do exhist it is not a tale!!!
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Nice to see tolerance is still alive and well. He should be locked up? For daring to believe in something? Disgusting and hurtful tripe?
Oh, and for the record, I’m an atheist.
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I hope the passer by was given a ticking off about dialling 999 for a non-emergency. Unless he was facing an imminent smiting, of course.
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Amazing the police answered a 999 call for this! Trying to get them to attend after a burglary is impossible for days.
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That’s a good point, OJ. Wasting police time is very serious.
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HELEN, Well said, you said it all in one sentence and thus spared us the dribble of some on this site, such as Tracey.
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it’s not a political document IT’S THE TRUTH wake up Jesus said “go preach the gospel to every creature” and “if they believe not they will be DAMNED” mark ch 16 v’s 15 and 16, jesus loved you so much he told the truth and then died for you on the cross, R E P E N T and believe the gospel mark ch 1 v 15, believe Jesus is the only way john ch 14 v 6, and believe there’s no other name given whereby we MUST be SAVED acts ch 4 v 12 to rejectthe (truth that is jesus) means you will be cast into THE LAKE WHICH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE and TORMENTED FOREVER revelation ch 21 v 8 these things are biblical and said out of love. may the street preacher keep up speaking the TRUTH i agree with you
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This is some attempt at irony, right?
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I’ve got an awful feeling that it’s not…..
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““if they believe not they will be DAMNED””
I’m confused – is this the Bible or the Koran? Don’t extremist Muslims want to kill non-believers and ex-believers?
Sounds like you’d be right at home in your local mosque, Tony!
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i agree with the street preacher
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Hmmmm. Religious nutter shouting offensive rubbish about gays … Muslims screaming abuse about British soldiers … where to draw the line? I reckon let them all scream themselves hoarse and don’t waste time arresting people for it.
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In fact, it sounds as though this ‘preacher’ would be in agreement with most Muslims on this subject :)
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If you love people you tell them the truth
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If you love people you accept them for who or what they are.
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I’ve seen this bloke constantly, on Pride Hill, preach to shoppers, who quite frankly, could not care less.
I think this compensation undermines the work the police do. If he is inciting bigotry in the middle of a busy city, then the police have every right to arrest him and treat him like any other suspect, just like they would do to anyone inciting racial hatred.
And anyway, I remember him telling me a few years back that I would repent in hell if I did not follow the way of Jebus (or whatever his imaginary friend is called).
My last point is that if tramps are not allowed to busk on busy shopping streets, then why are preachers allowed to toxify our busy shopping regimes with these cries for more people to follow something which has no proof of existance. I am all for freedom of speech, but do it on a platform where people will listen, not forced to.
Rant over.
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Why should Preacher Tony Rollins be made a criminal because this man disagrees with what the Bible says? Which other person of some other religion do you know who faced a criminal conviction for quoting what his Holy Book says? Why is this Christian singled out to be forced to deny what the Bible says?
As I understand it the job of the Evangelist is to clearly show from the Bible what God regards as sin. Then to show the love, mercy and forgiveness of God, to bring a person asking questions to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that all of their sins can be forgiven, not just the particular sin this man asked questions about!
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If you read properly the quote “you will be DAMNED” is taken from the bible the ref is MARK CH 16 V’S 15 & 16 also i believe the preacher does not agree with muslims, there koran disagrees on the major issues of the bible. I also VERY STRONGLY AGREE WITH THE TRUTH which is what the preacher was saying T R U T H,AMEN.
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“If you read properly the quote ”
Oh dear, you religious types do seem to have something of an irony bypass, don’t you? ;)
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“Jesus said “go preach the gospel to every creature” and “if they believe not they will be DAMNED”
That’s very interesting Tony, I’m just a bit puzzled by the “every creature” bit. Now I can see that if I preach the gospel to say, my next door neighbour, I can then ask him if he believes, then obviously if he answers “no” I can start the whole damning process.
I’m at a bit of a loss how to test the belief of my cat Bernard, who’s a deceitful little blighter at the best of times.
Any advice you can offer will be gratefully received – or perhaps I should just pray for divine guidance?
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If you read properly “A Brief History Of Time” you’ll know it’s turtles all the way down.
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@tony…so you’d back fundamentalists from other religions preaching their ‘truth’ would you?
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They are a pain in the rear too, but yes, let them spout their equally crazy rubbish, just hope people have the sense to ignore them.
People who feel the need to go out in the streets and shout prolonged tirades of nonsense are probably best allowed to do it, or their general paranoia might turn really nasty.
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I’m glad the police the money had to pay this compensation because they have an extremely high opinion of themselves and run carte blanche over anybody they disagree with.
Given the character of most police officers it is not surprising they arrested a Christian preacher. What about the muslim preachers in London, enciting murder and revenge, they don’t get arrested due to political correctness and the prospect of the police being labeled racist!
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Abu Hamza al-Masri might disagree with your last point.
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“I did it for freedom of speech.” Essentially then, in the 21st century, freedom of speech means that as long as preaching intolerance towards minority groups is protected by a religious text (of any of the religions extant in the UK I presume) then it is acceptable in the public arena. Right, got it now; all I have to do is choose a handy religion that reflects my personal prejudices and bigotry and off to the nearest busy street corner I go to disseminate them.
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I do think this went a bit too far, and an arrest wasn’t justified, but inciting hatred (against anyone) on the streets mustn’t be tolerated. It annoys me that a gay person can be judged on what they may, or may not do, in the bedroom rather than their individual (not group) contribution to society. I defy anyone to tell me that they live their life by every single rule in the bible. All sin is equal, apparantly, but you’d never think it after listening to many street preachers.
It’s hypocritical that so many christians focus on only certain bits of the bible. Sure, some passages say that homosexuality is wrong, but it also says that women shouldn’t be educated (Corinthians 14:35-36), that a man can give his daughter to be raped by a drunken mob (Judges 19) and stoning for adultury etc. Would we tolerate a man standing on a street telling us that women were inferior? No, didn’t think so.
Nowhere in the bible does it say that “God says” homosexuality is wrong, just the writings of mortal men who claim to speak on his behalf.
I’m sure that if God was that bothered about people being gay, the 11th commandment would have been “thou shalt not worship Madonna, buy Ikea furniture or go on holiday to Gran Canaria”.
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In 1986 when the Public Order Act was introduced, no one dreampt that the Police would use it to try to force a Bible Preacher to deny what the Bible clearly says about morality.
Birmingham people should ask why the Police are not upholding the Law as enacted by Parliament on 7th May 2008. This Law is the Government’s Criminal Justice and Immigration Act, Section 74, Schedule 16 (14) that says, “29JA Protection of freedom of expression (sexual orientation). In this Part for the avoidance of doubt, the discussion or criticism of sexual conduct or practices or the urging of persons to refrain from or modify such conduct or practices shall not be taken of itself to be threatening or intended to stir up hatred”. This Freedom of Speech Clause in the Act was passed twice in the House of Lords and was passed in the House of Commons by 324 votes for the Free Speech Clause and only 46 votes against it. Are the police in Birmingham higher in authority than the elected United Kingdom Westminster Parliament?
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So much for all the money they spend each year of ‘diversity’ training.
Diversity = It’s okay for everyone except those that have all their body parts working, fancy people of the opposite sex and don’t have Christian views :-)
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Say what you like, but in his latest career move Ricky Tomlinson sure is ostracising some of his audience.
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arrested for preaching out of the bible.?is this not the the book used by the courts for us to swear on to tell the truth.?if its not true,why do the law insist we swear on it.?
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not any more they use a statement of truth.
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Actually in court in this country you either swear on your holy book (depending on faith) or affirm to tell the truth.
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Actually Ricky Tomlinson has made a rather questionable career move Nistagmus. Have you seen that rather ghastly advert where he grins and apes about with a lot of small people dressed as elves. I can’t remember what the ad was for so much did I want to banish it from my consiousness which somewhat defeats the point, doesn’t it?
BTW I am on the side of the police on this one.
I hope they appeal and win.
It just encourages these fundamentalists if they think they have the right to discriminate against others.
Unfortunately the law is an ass more often than not and probably a damned ass at that!
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This man asked a question about this subject. Bible Preacher Tony Rollins quoted the contents of the relevant Bible Verses on this subject.
The Judge who is Queens Counsel, “Ruled that the words Preacher Tony Rollins used were not offensive and he was not in breach of the Public Order Act” And therefore, “The arrest and detention of Mr Rollins was not lawfull”.
John Wycliffe, the famous Bible translator who first gave us the Bible in English, said,”The highest service that a man may obtain on earth is to preach the Law of God”.
Should John Wycliffe have been put in Jail?
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The street preacher in question does indeed have the freedom to speak in public. So for that matter, dear reader do you, and I also.
If you object to the content or the delivery of the ramblings of the individual in question, why not enter into direct dialogue with him when he’s on Pride Hill, and challenge him face to face on his views.
Alternatively, use your right to express your view to him that you consider his behaviour unacceptable, and ask him to desist.
I’m not suggesting that he be barracked and heckled by herds of passing Salopians, but that the sentiment of the discontent be conveyed to him in such a way as to make him considering an alternative venue, or perhaps desisting all together. If indeed that is what you want.
A merry yuletide to all friends around the Wrekin.
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Hi HF and anyone left out there:
I think this could be considered as deliberately making someone uncomfortable!
The Evangelist, Tony Rollins preaches the Saving Faith Gospel of Repentance from sin and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. He considers it necessary to list the sins that God objects to so that the public can repent. The Bible verses the Evangelist was reading list ‘sins’ as defined by the Bible: Fornication, Wickedness, Covetousness, Maliciousness, Envy, Murder, Strife, Deceit, Evil-mindedness, Backbiting, Violence, Pride, Boasting, Inventing evil things, Disobedience to parents, Covenant breaking, Having no natural affection, Unforgiveness and having no mercy. If you drive him away as you encourage and these things happen to you, why complain to the Police to stop it being done to you?
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We refer to 4Preacher’s post of 17 December.
It is our view that entering into reasoned and courteous dialogue with someone who holds a different opinion to oneself is not an act of deliberate discomfort making, but simply the coming together of different parties to explore each other’s point of view. If in the event that such dialogue brought about feelings of discomfort, then it is, in our experience, likely to be upon the part of the side who cannot substantiate his view.
Part and parcel of such debate may encompasses the matter of reasonableness. Do the actions of Rollins cause nuisance, upset or offence to others? To some yes, to others no. Our thesis is that those who find Rollins’s unsolicited broadcast projected at them have the right to challenge him unsolicited also. He has the right to to speak, and others have the right to reply.
You describe Rollins being driven away, but by whom? There is no suggestion whatsoever on our part of anyone being driven away. As previously stated, and for the avoidance of any doubt, our thesis is that those with opposing views to Rollins, or those who consider his presence and actions unreasonable have the right to convey that to him. If he elects to continue performing his broadcasts to an unreceptive audience, that is his prerogative. It is also his right to address a populous within a different locality if he feels that his time might be better spent elsewhere.
You state that “He (we presume you refer to Rollins) considers it necessary to list the sins that God objects to so that the public can repent”. We would make the repost that to claim that any individual member of the public needs to repent is highly presumptuous given the circumstances. What evidence can Rollins possibly have against individuals that he has not met or spoken to before?
If Rollins chooses to entertain the mindset of presumed guilt, then it is his right to do so. As stated previously, it is also his right to proclaim his allegations of guilt to those who pass by. However it is equally the right of the passer by to respond. If Rollins does not like what he hears, then he may wish to consider the possibility that others may not like what they hear from him.
It is not clear to us what you are trying to convey in the final part of your post, what are the “things” to which you refer? The list of sins that you recite or the prospect of being challenged to a debate? In any case, it is not obvious how your reference to the Constabulary fits into your commentary.
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You presume he (Mr Rollins) does not know the passers by true he may not know them, BUT the bible states in romans ch 3 v’s 12 & 23 “there is none good no not one” “for A L L HAVE S I N N E D and fallen short of god’s standards” not some but ALL, so he tells them to R E P E N T because they are sinners before a holy sin hating god, & also because god tells his followers in mark ch 16 v’s 15 & 16 “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel TO EVERY PERSON / CREATURE” “he that believeth and is baptized shall be S A V E D he that believeth not SHALL BE DAMNED”, I suggest you heed the warning and repent of your sins (breaking of the 10 commandments), the day of J U D G M E N T is fast approaching. (the list of sins he was quoting were from 1 corinthians ch 6 v 9, revelation ch 21 v 8, romans ch 1, the last few verses, also galatians ch 5 v 19 & 2 timothy ch 3 v 1 to v 9 “never coming to a knowledge of the truth men of DEPRAVED MINDS”. PLEASE REPLY WITH COMMENT I would be very interested .
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