London street preacher wins legal challenge
A court in London ruled in favour of 31-year-old pastor Joshua Sutcliffe. The street preacher was preaching in Camden, North London on Good Friday in April 2020, as he was approached by four police officers, who claimed he is breaching government COVID restrictions and subsequently fined him.
Although he explained to the policeman that he was a pastor and worship leader and that he was outside providing charitable service he received a notice of £60.
“I was obviously very upset because I understand that it was a serious time for the country and the nations but I felt like we were well within our rights, and we were acting within the guidelines. I’d been sent out by a church to preach the Gospel, and I was acting in that role. I felt like they were kind of targeting Christians. We weren’t causing harm. We were just pointing to Christ and talking about Christ”, said Sutcliffe.
“We find the defendant not guilty on all charges. We find that the defendant was outside and that he had a reasonable excuse as he was travelling to his place of work, as a worship leader”, ruled the Magistrates Court in London.
In response to the courts’ initial decision, he stated: “At one point during the incident I was surrounded by four police officers, which was very intimidating. They treated me like a second-class citizen. I am a Christian minister of the gospel, which not so long ago was a treasured and respected vocation in the UK. During times of need, people need the hope of the gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ. That is what I do on a regular basis, I go to the streets and proclaim the hope and truth of the resurrection of Christ. I was doing this on Good Friday, one of the most important days in the Christian calendar to do this. I am very glad the magistrates threw the case out and that reason and justice prevailed.”
Source: intoleranceagainstchristians.eu