An Evangelical pastor in Northern Ireland has been found not guilty of issuing grossly offensive remarks during a sermon in which he described Islam as “a doctrine spawned in hell”.
Brought before Belfast Magistrates’ Court, Pastor James McConnell had denied two charges levelled against him for the sermon, delivered at Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast in 2014. Arising from the fact that the sermon, which described Islam as “heathen” and “satanic” was streamed over the internet, Pastor McConnell stood accused under the 2003 Communications Act with improper use of a public electronic communications network and causing a grossly offensive message to be sent by means of a public electronic communications network.
However, Judge Liam McNally ruled in favour of the pastor, stating that “the courts need to be very careful not to criminalise speech which, however contemptible, is no more than offensive. It is not the task of the criminal law to censor offensive utterances.”
Judge McNally added that while the words uttered by the pastor were offensive, they did not reach the high threshold of being “grossly offensive”.
“Accordingly I find Pastor McConnell not guilty of both charges.”
Pastor McConnell’s case served to bring together both representatives of other faith traditions and none in asserting his right to free speech. During the case, Catholic priest Fr Patrick McCafferty stood as a character witness for Pastor McConnell, whom he has known for 20 years, insisting that the defendant had “no hatred for anyone whatsoever and the people of his church are not people who go out in this community and cause trouble, they are the exact opposite”. Meanwhile, the National Secular Society welcomed the verdict as a “welcome reassertion of the fundamental right to freedom of expression [and] a much needed statement from the judge that free speech will be defended and that Islam is not off-limits”.
