Police in the UK have arrested a 71-year-old street preacher after a member of the public accused him of making homophobic comments in his Gospel presentation.
Pastor John Sherwood was preaching outside Uxbridge Station on Friday when two officers approached before pulling him off his platform and placing him in handcuffs.
A spokesperson for the Met Police told Premier Christian News that police were flagged down by a member of the public who told them that Pastor Sherwood had made homophobic comments.
“A number of other people also approached the officers with concerns about the man’s language,” the spokesperson said.
Police subsequently arrested Pastor Sherwood on suspicion of an offence under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was taken to a west London Police station and later released.
The arrest comes two years after a 64-year-old preacher was awarded £2,500 for his wrongful arrest at Southgate station.
Oluwole Ilesanmi was arrested back in 2019 after he was accused of “Islamophobia” for calling Islam an “aberration.” The arresting officers told the elderly preacher, “Nobody wants to listen to that.”
Following the arrest, Christian Concern revealed the officers drove Mr Ilesanmi to an unfamiliar location and left him there without any money or means of getting home.
Met Police initially claimed to have walked Mr Ilesanmi approximately 200 metres from the point of arrest, de-arrested and shown to a nearby bus stop, however, they now admit this was false and that Mr Ilesanmi was taken more than four miles from the point of arrest.
Eventually, a member of the public ended up paying for Mr Ilesanmi’s transportation, which he used to travel back to Southgate tube station to continue preaching the good news.
Scotland Yard admitted Mr Ilesanmi was wrongfully arrested and agreed to pay £2,500 to the elderly preacher.
