Street preacher who spoke out against homosexuality wins wrongful arrest case
Street preacher who spoke out against homosexuality wins wrongful arrest case
Birmingham court rules that Christian street preacher who criticised homosexuality was wrongfully arrested by West Midlands Police
by Brian HuttPosted: Friday, December 10, 2010, 17:00 (GMT)
A street preacher has been awarded £4,250 in damages after a judge ruled it was wrong of police to arrest and handcuff him after he spoke out against homosexuality.Anthony Rollins, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, was preaching in Birmingham city centre in June 2008 when a member of the public, John Edwards, took offence at comments he made describing homosexual conduct as morally wrong.
According to the Christian Institute, which backed Mr Rollins’ case, police arrived on the scene after receiving a call from Mr Edwards and PC Adrian Bill proceeded to handcuff Mr Rollins without any further inquiry.
Birmingham County Court ruled on Wednesday that PC Bill had committed assault and battery against Mr Rollins by handcuffing him unnecessarily.
Judge Lance Ashworth QC said in his ruling on Wednesday that the arrest demonstrated a “lack of thoughtfulness”.
PC Bill, the judge ruled, had made the arrest “as a matter of routine without any thought being given to Mr Rollins’ Convention Rights”, which pertain to free speech and religious liberty.
After his arrest, Mr Rollins was taken by PC Bill to the station where he was held for three hours but never questioned for his account of events.
He was charged with breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act but the charges were dropped before the case came to trial.
Mr Rollins decided to sue West Midlands Police after a complaint he made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission about his treatment was rejected.
His claims of wrongful arrest, unlawful imprisonment, assault and battery, and the infringement of his human rights were upheld by the court on Wednesday.
Testifying in court, Mr Rollins said he had felt “shocked and very humiliated” when the police marched him away in handcuffs.
