Dave McConnell, a street preacher arrested in June 2021 after ‘misgendering’ a biological male, has had his conviction quashed. McConnell was reported to Prevent as a potential terrorist after being sentenced for a public order offence.
There is no legal requirement in the UK to use a person’s ‘preferred pronouns’, but McConnell – who has been street preaching for 15 years – was convicted for ‘insulting’ words and ordered to carry out 80 hours of community service and pay £620.
In a pre-sentence report, a probation officer stated that McConnell ‘is viewed to be persistently and illegally espousing an extreme point of view’.
The judge allowed his appeal, saying ‘we live in a time of free speech’, ‘it is not an offence to insult someone’ and he was ‘just repeating what he genuinely believed to be the Bible’s teaching’.
McConnell said he was ‘delighted and relieved’, but added: ‘How I was treated was totally unreasonable and should concern anyone who cares about Christian freedoms and free speech in this country.’
His case was backed by the Christian Legal Centre.
