Preacher is vindicated

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’.