19/12 Tales from the Tabs

A headline in the Mail on Sunday is ‘Homosexuality is a sin’ street preacher wins £7k from police'. In Cumbria in England, Dale Mcalpine was arrested for using "threatening, abusive or insulting words to cause harassment, alarm or distress contrary to Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986' when he told a gay police officer that homosexuals were acting against the word of God.

The charges have since been dropped and the Cumbria Police have been forced to pay him £7,000 in compensation on top of his legal costs. A statement from the Christian Institute has hailed the verdict, saying "We’re obviously pleased that Cumbria Police has seen common sense. "But Mr Mcalpine should not have been arrested in the first place. Sadly, it’s not an isolated case. The Government needs to amend the Public Order Act as a matter of urgency."

MacAlpine himself added, "I am delighted the police are going to apologise. It is not about the money but about freedom of speech. I hope the police will in future do their duty defending freedom of speech." The street preacher says he isn't homophobic though he does believe homosexuality is a sin.