"If we had free speech, I wouldn’t be in court 16 times, I wouldn’t get beaten up for preaching,” British Christian pastor and preacher Shaun O’Sullivan told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
The pastor was acquitted by a Swindon Crown Court jury on Sunday after facing an Islamophobia “religiously aggravated intentional harassment” charge for saying, “We love the Jews” and using the term'Jew haters.'
He had been preaching in the town center when a Muslim family reported feeling targeted because they were wearing hijabs when he made the comments on September 15, 2024. The police call handler categorized it straight away as a hate crime, without any evidence.
Under cross-examination by O’Sullivan’s lawyer, the accusant admitted she had not heard his words in full and that her memory of the incident was related to her views on Gaza, telling the court, “We have to defend the cause.”
O’Sullivan told the Post that he had not been directing the comments at the group, but was discussing how the Palestinian government generally teaches its citizens to 'hate the Jews.' He explained that the CCTV footage later showed no direct dialogue between him and those who accused him (“I never even had a conversation with them”). The police also attempted to use three officers as witnesses to the incident, but the judge dismissed this as the officers were not present.
Arrested 16 times over five years for preaching
The pastor is not new to facing the court on similar charges. He has been arrested 16 times in the past five years for preaching. He told the Post that he was once arrested for saying “God bless you” to someone shouting abuse at him, for which he was arrested on hate crime charges. In another incident, he was accused of preaching, but CCTV showed he never turned on the microphone.
He has also been banned four times from Swindon town center for preaching; however, each ban has been overturned by the judge.
Why does this keep happening, the Post asked him.
“I think that we, the police force, are scared of an uprising. They are scared to be seen to attack Muslims. If there is an attack from anyone with Islamic views, they just blame ‘mental health’ because they are in fear.”
In their efforts not to come across as Islamophobic, officers are suppressing pro-Jewish and pro-Israel speech, he explained.
O’Sullivan explained that most judges have been sympathetic to his case, some even putting it down to “overzealous policing.”
The police are “hungry” for it, and “arresting preachers all over the place,” he said, adding, “They don’t seem to know the laws; I think there needs to be some retraining.”
“I have strong views on Israel,” O’Sullivan told the Post.
“I believe Israel has a right to have land, and I pray for the people of Palestine. We need to be able to express and pray for the Jewish people without being victimized for supporting the Jews. Some people won’t even talk to me because I pray for the Jewish people.”
He noted the plethora of marches in London where scores have shouted “Death to Jews,” and the police have stood by.
He related how, when someone threatened to stab his son, the police did nothing. He gets many death threats: “I’ve been stoned, I’ve had radical Muslims try to stab me. I’ve had machete attacks just because I stand for Israel. I get told weekly, I am going to be executed. I even had a phone snatched out of my hand, and the police officer said, “Because he gave it back, in the end, it wasn’t a crime.”
An officer once told O’Sullivan, “If anyone complains about you, I’ll just arrest you.”
Part of the lack of support for Christian preachers – especially those who support Israel – comes down to the changing religious, political, and ideological landscape of the United Kingdom.
"We've given up all our heritage. Everything. We’re not allowed to be British in Britain, O’Sullivan reported.
“We’re not allowed to have the flag up. I watched a video of people shouting at a Christian man putting the [Union Jack] flag up, and they were saying ‘that is discriminating against the people who live here.’”
Things have become “10 times” worse since the Labour Party won in 2024, he added. “They are awful, they are antisemitic. They pretend they love Jews, but they don’t. They don’t protect Jewish people. They don’t protect Christian people.”
This attitude shift has, in turn, caused the situation with the police to worsen.
He does not believe there is free speech in the UK, saying, “We are gagged and silenced, we’re not free because if we were, I wouldn’t be in court 16 times. I wouldn’t get beaten up for preaching.
“They don’t address the people throwing stuff at me, shouting at me; instead, they say I am causing a nuisance,” he pointed out.
Although a preacher now, O’Sullivan wasn’t raised in the Christian faith, instead turning to faith about 10 years ago following a life of addiction and crime. He explained that he was on the way to committing suicide when he had an encounter with Jesus.
“All I do is help get knives off the streets in Swindon. I put people in rehab who are on drugs. I’ve helped people give up knife crime, gangs.” Violent crime is the most common crime type in Swindon, and 31% of violence with injury offences are committed by under-18s.
WHILE HE does think the UK has “fallen apart,” O’Sullivan believes faith could play a part in rectifying the situation.
“I personally believe if we could get God back into our society, things would change. If we brought it back into the schools, if we brought the family sitting down together at a table, if we honored the Sabbath, like it says in the Bible, or we took a rest time with our family, then things would change.”
He focuses particularly on the young generation, whom he wants to help influence in a positive way, especially through his church, Awakening Church.
“I want to try and bring hope back into the community,” O’Sullivan concluded.
“Shaun’s case highlights the dangers of policing ‘hate incidents’ based on perception alone,” Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Legal Center, which supported O’Sullivan’s case, said, adding: “We must ensure robust public debate, especially on matters of Christian faith, is not silenced.”
“Shaun loves Jesus, and he wants to reach the public with the hope that has transformed his life. He, and other Christian preachers, must have the freedom to do that without fear of being prosecuted and dragged before a judge and jury.”