UK Police Drop Probe of 58-Year-Old Pastor Dia Moodley After 6-Month Street-Preaching Case
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 24
UK Police Drop Probe of 58-Year-Old Pastor Dia Moodley After 6-Month Street-Preaching Case
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 24
Avon and Somerset Police told Pastor Dia Moodley, 58, there would be no further action after his November arrest in Bristol over alleged assault and a religiously aggravated public-order offense tied to street preaching.
Police said the evidence did not meet the threshold for a realistic prospect of conviction; ADF International said Moodley had spent 8 hours in custody and was later released on bail during the months-long investigation.
Moodley says he is weighing legal action, arguing police violated his free-speech rights and failed to properly pursue threats made during an April 4 Easter sermon in Bristol; officers later closed that case too for insufficient evidence.
The dropped case is the second time since March 2024 that Moodley was arrested while preaching about Islam and transgender ideology before police abandoned the investigation.
His case adds to wider UK disputes over religious speech: pastor Steve Maile, 66, faces hate-speech charges in London, while retired pastor Clive Johnston, 78, was fined in Northern Ireland this month.
Are repeated arrests without conviction a win for free speech or a sign of a failing UK justice system?
With a 'conversion practices' ban looming, could pastoral advice soon become a crime in the UK?
As pastors clash with transgender ideology, is Britain's culture war now being fought on its public streets?