Shaun O’Sullivan, who preaches at the Awaken church in Swindon and often speaks to homeless individuals and addicts on the streets, says police have a “vendetta” against him. He has been arrested 16 times, yet none of the charges have resulted in a conviction. A jury unanimously dismissed the most recent case in just 90 minutes, according to the Daily Mail.
The incident occurred after he said, “God bless you,” which reportedly offended Muslims at the march. He had previously been accused of harassment for saying, “Pray for the Jews and pray for the Palestinians.” After the most recent remark, a female officer told him the phrase could be a crime “if it causes distress” and said that “if that person was a Muslim,” they may be distressed.
Under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, a person commits an offense if they use “threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour…within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby."
In a statement to the Daily Mail, O’Sullivan said, “The police have a vendetta against me – I've been told as much by individual officers who have said if someone complains about me I'll be arrested.”
“I'm glad that the jury were able to see sense and almost immediately dismiss the nonsense that the police and prosecution said about me,” he added. “I'm not racist and I have no problem with people disagreeing with my religious views, but I do have a right to state them because we have freedom of speech in this country – even if it does offend people.”
“That's why, despite Wiltshire Police arresting me 16 times, I have always been cleared. But now I'm going to sue them because the harassment from them has turned into a witch-hunt and it's just too much,” he continued.
O’Sullivan also criticized derogatory comments made about him on a local newspaper’s Facebook page, some of which were “liked” by a woman serving as a Police Community Support Officer whom he has interacted with. He said, “There she is, a police employee liking comments where someone has called me 'racist, homophobic', a 'very unpleasant man' and not a Christian. How can she be allowed to do that and then claim to be neutral? It's an absolute disgrace.”
O’Sullivan is known locally for preaching in public with a wooden cross and megaphone. Swindon Borough Council has banned him from using a speaker, arguing the loud noise had a detrimental impact on nearby residents. He has continued to call for stronger free speech protections in the United Kingdom, saying on social media that “Expressing your beliefs is a true important thing of this country.”
