Two Christian street preachers were convicted of public order offences by the Bristol Magistrates' Court in the U.K. on Tuesday after they publicly stated that Muslims are going to hell and that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell were found guilty during the four-day trial of using "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, and the offence was religiously aggravated," reported Christian Concern.
A third man was also accused of the same offences, but his case was dismissed. Charges were slapped on the street preachers after they allegedly offended a crowd in Bristol back in July last year. A witness claimed that they made statements such as "Allah does not exist" and "all Muslims will burn in hell."
The crowd who gathered before the preachers were reportedly agitated because of their comments. When the police arrived at the scene, Overd was said to have "gone over the top" since he "wound up people."
Police took them to Patchway Custody Centre in Bristol where they were held for several hours. They were charged under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Public Order Act 1986.
Even though the preachers said in their defence that they were only speaking truths from the Bible, prosecutor Ian Jackson argued otherwise. "To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth," Jackson said in court.
The preachers' counsel, Michael Phillips, called the prosecution a "modern-day heresy trial — dressed up under the public order act."
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, also agreed. "Overd and his friends are motivated by love. They want to share the Good News of Jesus with people who might not otherwise hear it. Sometimes that means addressing the false claims of other religions or ideologies," she said.
This was not the first time Overd was charged, according to The Christian Post. Back in 2014, he was already charged for "causing offence" when he publicly declared that the Islamic prophet Mohammad was wrong for marrying a nine-year-old girl. Because of his statements, police had to forcibly remove him from the area.
