Sweeping British speech laws ban even atheist posters

Nobody must be offended by anything in Britain

POLICE have this afternoon issued a statement to clarify their position over a Boston pensioner who has vowed to display a poster labelling religions as ‘fairy stories’.

Officers say that they have not told John Richards he is committing an offence for displaying the poster but said he could only face arrest if he causes offence and refuses to take the poster down when they ask.

In a statement Lincolnshire Police said the 1986 Public Order Act states that a person is guilty of an offence if they display a sign which is threatening or abusive or insulting with the intent to provoke violence or which may cause another person harassment, alarm or distress.

The statement adds: “This is balanced with a right to free speech and the key point is that the offence is committed if it is deemed that a reasonable person would find the content insulting.

“If a complaint is received by the police in relation to a sign displayed in a person’s window, an officer would attend and make a reasoned judgement about whether an offence had been committed under the Act.

“In the majority of cases where it was considered that an offence had been committed, the action taken by the officer would be to issue words of advice and request that the sign be removed.

“Only if this request were refused might an arrest be necessary.

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The Muslim teenager who 'insulted six dead soldiers on Facebook' appears in British court charged with 'gross offense'



He'd probably be within the law in the USA but Britain is different. In this case I don't think I'm too cut up about it though. Why does Britain let these charmers into their country?

A teenager appeared in court yesterday charged with making offensive comments on Facebook about the deaths of six British soldiers.

Azhar Ahmed, 19, has been accused of committing an offence under the Communications Act of sending a ‘grossly offensive’ message.

At an earlier he pleaded not guilty to the charge and was due to stand trial at Huddersfield Magistrates Court yesterday.

Ahmed is alleged to have posted the insulting Facebook message on his profile page on 8 March - two days after the soldiers were killed in an explosion in Afghanistan.

Ahmed walked into court wearing a cap and with a white woollen hoodie pulled up over this head.

The District Judge heard no evidence and adjourned the trial until 14 September due to an unexpected legal problem. Ahmed, of Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, was released on bail.

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Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).