Two-tier policing is real – just ask Christians

If you have ever doubted the existence of two-tier policing in the UK, just look at the appalling treatment of Christian street preachers. Earlier this year, a Christian pastor called Dia Moodley was arrested and held in a police cell for 13 hours. His alleged ‘crime’ was to have criticised Islam. Most of the details only emerged last week.

Moodley routinely engages in public question-and-answer sessions on the street in Bristol, where he discusses Christianity and related social, moral and cultural issues. This often leads to fruitful and civil dialogue with those with opposing views. You might think that, in a democracy, the exchange of ideas he facilitates would be applauded. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Back in March, Moodley was preaching outside Bristol University when, in response to a question from a Muslim man, he pointed out the differences in moral standards between Islam and Christianity. Answering another question, he also stated his Biblical belief that God created human beings male and female and that sex is therefore binary – contrary to the claims of transgender ideology.

Moodley was then assaulted by people who objected to what he said. One person pushed him from the stepladder he was standing on. Another tore a placard from his hand, injuring him. The police were then called.

Incredibly, despite the fact that Moodley had been a victim of crime, he was arrested on suspicion of ‘racially or religiously aggravated harassment without violence’. After he was arrested, police instructed staff at Bristol University to dispose of the signs he used while preaching.

Fortunately, the investigation into him was dropped after legal representations were made to the police with the support of ADF UK, where I am a communications officer. With our help, Moodley is now pursuing a complaint against Avon and Somerset Police, including for the destruction of his property. But the fact that he was arrested merely for peacefully expressing his Christian beliefs is part of a wider, deeply concerning trend.

Since the riots and protests that erupted this summer, concerns about two-tier policing and justice in the UK have gone mainstream. The truth is that, for Christians, two-tier policing has been a reality for a long time.

Ex-Muslim and Christian convert Hatun Tash is one such example. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Tash recently won a £10,000 payout from the Met Police, for the second time. She was arrested in June 2022, while she was preparing to preach about Islam at Speakers’ Corner in London. Like Moodley, she was arrested after herself being the victim of a crime. Before she had even begun speaking, a man grabbed her copy of the Koran and ran into the crowd. When the police turned up, it was Tash, not the thief, they arrested. She was frog-marched through the crowd as a mob of Muslim men jeered at her and yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’. She was later strip-searched by police.

In the past, Tash has been repeatedly stabbed at Speakers’ Corner. Last year, a Muslim man was jailed for planning to murder her. After all this, you might have expected the police to be on red alert to protect her, rather than criminalise her. But rather than protecting Tash’s right to speak freely, and even exist without fearing for her life, the police were far more concerned with protecting the feelings of Muslims.

The state crackdown on Christian views also extends to the censorious ‘buffer zones’ that surround some abortion centres, which ban peaceful expression and even having the ‘wrong’ thoughts. Just this week, army veteran Adam Smith-Connor was convicted for silently praying in a buffer zone in Bournemouth. Arguably, this marked the first successful conviction of a thoughtcrime in modern British history. ADF UK supported his legal defence and an appeal of the ruling is being considered.

Other Christians have also been criminalised for alleged breaches of buffer zones. Catholic woman Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested twice, in November 2022 and February 2023, for praying in her head outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham. The charges were thankfully dropped. This August, she won a payout of £13,000 from West Midlands Police.

Unfortunately, we may see more cases like Smith-Connor’s and Vaughan-Spruce’s in the future. The government announced last month that buffer zones will be imposed around all abortion centres in England and Wales at the end of this month. These will ban ‘intentionally or recklessly influencing’ someone’s decision to have an abortion within 150 metres of a clinic. While silent prayer has not specifically been named as an offence, the law lacks clarity.

The persecution of Christians in Britain sets a terrifying precedent. If this is allowed to continue, it surely won’t be long before more and more views – many of which were also once considered commonsense and ordinary – will be subject to state censorship. Christian or not, this should terrify anyone who cares about free speech.

Paul Sapper is a communications officer at ADF International. Follow him on X: @spsapper.