A Christian street preacher has been cleared of threatening and abusive behaviour relating to comments he made about homosexual conduct.
Gordon Larmour’s trial lasted just one hour as the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence against him and delivered a not guilty verdict at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.
The Christian Legal Centre, which represented Larmour, praised the verdict as a “wonderful result”, for both Larmour and for “Christian evangelists in the UK”.
Arrested
Larmour had been handing out leaflets in the street and was asked by a group of men to explain his stance on homosexuality.
After sharing the Bible’s teaching, he was chased by the group and abusive remarks were made against him.
Police then arrived at the scene and arrested the street preacher for making homophobic comments. He was charged with behaving in a “threatening or abusive manner aggravated by prejudice relating to sexual orientation” and “assault”.
But in evidence, the accounts of two of the men involved failed to correspond.
Free speech
Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, welcomed the ruling saying “the case simply did not stand up to scrutiny”.
Williams went on to say that: “Freedom of speech is being consistently undermined in the UK, but here is a win for common sense”.
“Christians need not be intimidated, and should take advantage of the freedom we have to share the good news about Jesus”, she added.