John Steele, who has preached for 25 years, was speaking to passersby in Rotherham town center last month when he engaged in A 30-second conversation” with a woman. According to a report by the Daily Mail, police body cam footage shows Steele laughing and saying, “The world’s gone mad” and “I asked a simple question” after being approached by officers.
The verse Steele referenced reportedly states: “If you sense ill-conduct from your women, advise them first, if they persist, do not share their beds, but if they still persist, then discipline them gently.”
“This is the world we live in. I think it was your delivery.... You could deem [this] behavior and [your] actions as anti-social behavior,” one officer told him. Another said the woman felt “frightened,” adding, “that lady has flagged a police officer down and said she has felt threatened by your manner. So for me that's anti-social.”
Despite insisting the exchange was civil, Steele was arrested after refusing to provide his personal details. Officers warned him that the incident could be classified as a “non-crime hate incident.”
“John, we're saying you've behaved in an anti-social manner because she's felt harassed, alarmed and distressed by your behavior - by how you've approached her and the question that you've asked her and the manner that you've asked it,” one officer said. “I've never had any issues with you before.”
Steele was taken to a police station, fingerprinted, and had a DNA sample collected. A court date was scheduled, but the Crown Prosecution Service later dropped the case, stating it was “not needed in the public interest.”
“I've spent my life trying to help people find hope and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I've seen the devastation caused by abuse, and I wanted to speak truth in love. Instead, I was treated like a criminal,” Steele said about the incident. “I was shocked, and gob smacked. How can asking a question be labelled as hate?”
"It was degrading. They took my DNA and fingerprints, for what? A 30-second conversation,” he added. “This wasn't about me. It's about the erosion of our hard-won freedoms and the right to speak truth in love.”
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, commented on the case, saying, “We welcome the fact that this case has now been dropped, but it should never have progressed as far as it did.”
“This is a clear and disturbing example of two-tier policing. It is both irrational and unlawful for officers to threaten members of the public with so-called 'non-crime hate incidents' simply for expressing lawful and peaceful views,” Williams added.
Since 2014, more than 250,000 non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) have been recorded in England and Wales, averaging 68 per day. The UK College of Policing defines an NCHI as “any non-crime incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or transgender status.” No crime needs to be committed or evidence provided for an NCHI to be recorded.
