Christian preacher arrested by thought police for ‘God bless you’

A Christian street preacher arrested for saying ‘God bless you’ to protesters at a Palestinian demonstration claims that police are trying to gag his freedom of speech after arresting him 16 times.

Shaun O’Sullivan says he plans to sue Wiltshire Police after being cleared of racial harassment following a six-day trial in Crown Court, at an estimated cost of £20,000 at the taxpayer’s expense.

Mr O’Sullivan, 36, preaches at Swindon’s evangelical ‘Awaken’ church and on the streets to homeless and addicts on the fringe of society, as he once was.

But he claims that some police officers have a ‘vendetta’ against him and are looking for reasons to arrest him.

Despite his remarkable tally of arrests, none of the charges or cases brought against him have stuck, and a jury unanimously threw out the latest case of racial and religious harassment against him in just 90 minutes (which included their lunchtime break).

Those proceedings followed an allegation that he was guilty of harassing Muslims by saying the words: ‘Pray for the Jews and pray for the Palestinians’ in relation to the Gaza conflict.

On a separate occasion, he was arrested after it was alleged that his ‘God bless you’ comment had offended Muslims at a pro-Palestinian march.

In a remarkable clip which he recorded and posted on TikTok, he can be heard speaking to a female police officer who confirms repeatedly that saying ‘God Bless You’ is indeed a crime ‘If it causes distress’, and observes that ‘if that person was a Muslim’ they might be distressed.

In fact, Section 5 of the Public Order Act says a person commits an offence if they use ‘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.’

Why Muslims (who believe, in common with Jews and Christians) that there is only one God, would be likely to be offended by someone offering his blessing upon them is anyone’s guess. No doubt because of that officer’s fundamental misunderstanding of the law, the case was eventually dropped.

No doubt because of that officer’s fundamental misunderstanding of the law, the case was eventually dropped.

Mr O’Sullivan told the Daily Mail: ‘The police have a vendetta against me – I’ve been told as much by individual officers who have said if someone complains about me I’ll be arrested.

‘I’m glad that the jury were able to see sense and almost immediately dismiss the nonsense that the police and prosecution said about me.

‘I’m not racist and I have no problem with people disagreeing with my religious views, but I do have a right to state them because we have freedom of speech in this country – even if it does offend people.

‘That’s why, despite Wiltshire Police arresting me 16 times, I have always been cleared. But now I’m going to sue them because the harassment from them has turned into a witch-hunt and it’s just too much.’

He cited derogatory comments made about him on a local newspaper’s Facebook site, some of which have been ‘liked’ by a woman he says is a serving Police Community Support Officer with whom he has had contact in the past.

He said: ‘There she is, a police employee liking comments where someone has called me ‘racist, homophobic’, a ‘very unpleasant man’ and not a Christian. How can she be allowed to do that and then claim to be neutral? It’s an absolute disgrace’.

A few hours after the Mail drew the attention of Wiltshire Police to the Facebook likes, they were removed.

Following the end of his six-day trial, during which he was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, father-of-four O’Sullivan told his 12,000 followers on TikTok: ‘We need to come back to an expression of our freedoms of speech.

‘My name has been dragged through the papers, my friends have been targeted…my family have been attacked, we were branded racists around the street.

‘We had friends of ours assaulted, church members assaulted, and I’m finally grateful that I can go back to my family with a not guilty verdict.’

He added: ‘Expressing your beliefs is a true important thing of this country.’

Mr O’Sullivan was accused of verbally assaulting three people based on an assumption they were Muslim and Palestinian on September 15, 2024 in Canal Walk.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of religiously aggravated harassment and one count of racially aggravated harassment at Swindon Crown Court.

At the hearing, Andy Pickett, prosecuting, said: ‘The motivation is, having identified their appearance, either demonstrating religion or race, the comments were then made.’

However, following the trial he was found not guilty by a jury, with a unanimous verdict.

Mr O’Sullivan welcomed the verdict outside the Crown Court, filming videos to share the outcome of his case and posting them to his social media page.

In one of the videos, he says: ‘Here we go again brothers and sisters. I just got the not guilty verdict and here I am outside the Crown Court after six days of trialling. For saying what? My freedom of speech as usual.’

Christian Concern said: ‘Shaun came to Christ after overcoming drug addiction and a life of crime. He himself used to mock street preachers until he found salvation in Jesus Christ, who turned his life around completely. Shaun himself became a street preacher, wanting to share his faith with everyone around him.’

Mr O’Sullivan, who is a well-known figure on the streets of Swindon, armed with wooden cross or megaphone, was arrested and charged with a public order offence in March 2020, but later found not guilty at Swindon Magistrates Court.

Last year Mr O’Sullivan was banned by Swindon Borough Council from loudly preaching through a speaker in the town centre after numerous complaints.

The council said at the time that the ‘persistent, abhorrently loud noise was having a detrimental impact on the quality of life for residents, shoppers, and local businesses’.

They served a formal written warning that he faced a Community Protection Notice if he did not stop, with a £100 fine and a potential prosecution for breaching the order.

In his defence, Mr O’Sullivan said that his church does good work, ‘We got a few people off heroin and out of county line drug dealing and into rehab,’ he said.

‘One of the guys now is about a year clean. We go to the places that most normal vicars wouldn’t go.’

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported O’Sullivan’s case, welcomed the verdict: ‘Shaun’s case highlights the dangers of policing ‘hate incidents’ based on perception alone. We must ensure that robust public debate, especially on matters of Christian faith, is not silenced.

‘In this instance, the decision to log a ‘hate claim’ was based solely on a single phone call. This was another example of police overreach and the chilling effect on free speech. The acquittal is not just a personal vindication for Shaun but a reminder of the fragile state of fundamental freedoms in our country right now.

‘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.’

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police told the Daily Mail: ‘Although it would be inappropriate to comment about an individual in this case, we can say that we police without fear or favour.

‘Our four key priorities – as set out in the Police and Crime plan – are: A police service that meets the needs of its communities; Reduce violence and serious harm; Tackle crimes that matter most to local communities; Improve the experience of victims and deliver justice’.