Two Christians were vindicated in December after favourable rulings cleared each of wrongful accusations.
Dale Mcalpine received a £4,000 pay out plus costs from Cumbria police for wrongful arrest. He had been preaching in Kendal in July 2018 when he was arrested.
After being detained for six hours he was released without bail. It took six months until the police finally notified him that he would not be prosecuted.
Mcalpine, who had been a street preacher for 15 years, said he hopes his case will encourage others.
‘As long as you are reasonable in your preaching you should have nothing to fear from the police.’ Mcalpine donated his settlement to the Christian Institute saying:
“This is a free country and I’m grateful for our freedoms. I’m also extremely grateful to The Christian Institute for helping me take a stand. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
He had previously been arrested in 2010 and awarded £7,000 following a claim of wrongful arrest, unlawful imprisonment and breach of his human rights.
No evidence
In similar news, in December, the General Medical Council (GMC) dismissed a claim made by the National Secular Society (NSS) against Dr Richard Scott.
In June 2019, the GMC informed Dr Scott that it had received some information from the NSS and would begin a fitness to practise investigation. The NSS had lodged a complaint that he was ‘continuing to pray and promote Christianity during consultations in an attempt to convert patients’, and cited an anonymous complainant.
As there was no first hand evidence, and the accusation was based on hearsay, the lack of ‘convincing evidence’ led the GMC to take no further action.
