On Tuesday Bristol magistrates convicted two Christian preachers of public order offences, many believing they rode roughshod over principles of freedom of speech. They imposed a fine and costs on each of them, totalling £2,016. The case arose over an outreach in Bristol where Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell had preached the Gospel in front of John Wesley’s Chapel. They told the crowd that ‘the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy’, adding that people were on their way to hell because of their view of Christianity. It was decided that the inclusion of homosexuality in a list containing thieves and drunkards was abuse. Michael Phillips, defending, told the court the list of sinners was in 1Cor. 6:9-10. It was the same passage cited in the Appeal Court case of Alison Redmond-Bate, where important principles of free speech were laid down and her conviction set aside. There, as in this case, a hostile crowd gathered and police were called. There, as in this case, the preachers, not the trouble-makers, were wrongly arrested.