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Street preacher wins court case against police
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Dear supporter,

A Christian street preacher has won a claim against West Yorkshire Police for wrongful arrest, false imprisonment and breach of human rights.

His case was backed by The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund.


David McConnell



Police did not tell David McConnell what law he was alleged to have broken, only that there were complaints he had been “preaching on gay rights and abortion”.

He was held in police custody for about six hours.

West Yorkshire Police admitted liability in court papers and Liverpool County Court issued a judgement in favour of Mr McConnell.

The police have agreed to pay him damages of £3,250 plus legal costs.

Mr McConnell said:

“I was just preaching the gospel to a crowd of about 50 when some people came up and started asking me all sorts of hostile questions. I tried to give straightforward answers but they just got angrier and angrier. They wanted to ask me about sexuality and abortion. I hadn’t been preaching about these things. It was them who had brought the questions up. One of them obviously knew what they were doing because they called the police and claimed I’d caused ‘harassment, alarm and distress’.

“At the station the desk sergeant was a very reasonable person. I was allowed to keep my bible and a hymn book in my prison cell. Meanwhile he listened to the recording of my preaching and quickly realised there’d been a mistake and that I had not broken any laws.”

If you have donated to our Legal Defence Fund, thank you. You have made this victory possible.

If you would like to make a donation to The Christian Institute’s Legal Defence Fund, you can do so via our website ([link removed]) .
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Yours in Christ,
Simon Calvert
Deputy Director (Public Affairs)
The Christian Institute
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