Tory councillor arrested for ‘hate crime’ has case dropped
Police have dropped a case against a Tory councillor arrested for an alleged “hate crime” after he supported Christian free speech, The Telegraph can disclose.
Cllr Anthony Stevens, 50, from Wellingborough, Northants, was arrested at his home in August after re-tweeting a video criticising how the police treated a Christian street preacher.
Responding to the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to drop the case, Cllr Stevens said that he felt “vindicated” but that the “abuse of police power” had affected his reputation, business, health and relationships.
He said that police questioned him about a tweet involving a video showing how police had treated the arrest of Oluwole Ilesanmi, a Christian preacher, in Southgate, London, in 2019.
A police officer snatched Mr Ilesanmi’s Bible after the preacher was accused of being Islamophobic. Mr Ilesanmi was later awarded £2,500 for wrongful arrest.
The video, shared by Cllr Stevens in May, also showed footage of a police officer apparently stating that a Muslim preacher was allowed to preach on a high street.
Cllr Stevens, a member of Wellingborough town council, said that he was told by police officers that the original tweet he had shared had been posted by a member of Britain First, the far-Right political party.
Cllr Stevens said that he had not known this or known about Britain First, and had only re-posted the video as “disturbing evidence of religious discrimination in law enforcement”.
‘Outright attempt to intimidate’
Police also questioned why the Tory councillor had tweeted his support for Cllr King Lawal, a North Northamptonshire councillor, who had been “cancelled” for expressing his Christian beliefs in relation to LGBT issues, according to Cllr Stevens.
The tweets were made from his personal account, which had 76 followers.
Cllr Stevens said that he understood he had been reported to the police by a local Labour Party member.
He was arrested for a public order offence under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. After an interview at Kettering police station, Cllr Stevens was given bail.
After he revealed details of his arrest in The Telegraph, he received a letter from a Detective Inspector from Northamptonshire Police, advising him to seek “legal advice prior to any contact with media sources or making comment within [a] public forum about this case, or the circumstances surrounding it”.
In response, Cllr Stevens’ lawyers wrote to the police stating: “The arrest of our client, a democratically elected office-holder, for social media posts about matters of public interest, is self-evidently a matter for legitimate media attention, public debate and criticism.”
The letter accused the police of “an outright attempt to intimidate our client and media organisations and to stifle legitimate criticism of the police. Such behaviour is wholly unacceptable for a police officer in a free country.”
On Nov 1, Cllr Stevens’ bail conditions were extended. The Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting him, said the conditions included being unable to attend council committee meetings at the same time as a Labour councillor.
‘We must have freedom to criticise’
However, this week, Cllr Stevens said that he was phoned by the CPS and told that the case against him had been dropped and there would be no further action.
In an email, Northamptonshire Police said: “I write to inform you that Mr Anthony Stevens has been informed this evening of the Crown Prosecutions decision that there will be no further action in relation to his involved case.”
Cllr Stevens said: “Yes, I have been vindicated and I am relieved that no further action will be taken, but look what I have been put through. My reputation, business, health and even my relationships have been seriously affected by this abuse of police power.”
He said: “In a true democratic society, you cannot have people being arrested for a few tweets. We must have debate, we must have the freedom to criticise and offend each other, otherwise this country is heading towards a very dark place.”
A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: “On Aug 2 2023, Northamptonshire Police received a report of a hate crime regarding posts made on social media.
“In response, a 50-year-old Wellingborough man was arrested on the morning of Aug 8 on suspicion of distributing written material to stir up racial hatred, and later released on bail pending further enquiries.
“Following its investigation into the report, the force sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which reviewed the case and determined that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
“This CPS decision to take no further action has been communicated to all involved parties and Northamptonshire Police considers this to be the end of the matter.”
