Police have dropped charges against a Christian pastor following a months-long investigation into his street preaching.
Dia Moodley, 58, was arrested on November 22 and detained on suspicion of “inciting religious hatred” after peacefully sharing his Christian views in Bristol city center. After four months of criminal investigation, police with Avon and Somerset informed him that “no further action will be taken,” according to a news release from Alliance Defending Freedom International, which defended him in the case.
“I’m glad Avon and Somerset Police decided to eventually do the right thing and drop their criminal investigation,” Moodley said in a statement. “This is a win for free speech, but I never should have been arrested, treated like a criminal, and investigated for months for peacefully sharing my faith in the public square.”
Moodley was accused of preaching against transgender ideology, comparing Christianity with Islam, and committing a Section 4A religiously aggravated public order offense under the Public Order Act of 1986. He was arrested after a bystander appeared to reach for the wire of his speaker, and he reportedly pushed her away.
He was held for eight hours in a police cell, interrogated by police, and initially placed under bail conditions that restricted him from entering Bristol city center over Christmas, said ADF International.
While the bail conditions were later dropped, the investigation into criminal investigation continued, resulting in what ADF called de facto censorship, as the pastor refrained from publicly preaching over Christmas and in the weeks leading up to Easter for fear of rearrest.
November was the second time Moodley has been arrested for commenting on Islam and transgender ideology while street preaching. In March 2024, he was arrested outside the University of Bristol after speaking on Islam and stating that sex is binary. Police dropped that investigation as well. Also, in 2021, police banned him from commenting on any other faith, and from delivering sermons without prior police approval.
The pastor has faced repeated violence and threats from bystanders while street preaching, ADF said, many of which the police have failed to adequately address. And he is now considering legal action against Avon & Somerset Police, for the violation of his free speech rights and for the police’s failure to promptly investigate serious crimes against him.
ADF legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole described the police’s decision to drop the November charges as a “vindication” of Moodley’s conduct. He said the case is a symptom of a wider pattern and called on Parliament to take action.
“The war of attrition against free speech in the U.K., demonstrated in Pastor Dia’s case, must end,” Igunnubole said. “Censorial laws need to be repealed urgently, and stronger protections, including a Free Speech Bill, are needed to reverse the growing culture of censorship within law enforcement.”
Meanwhile, Moodley will continue expressing his faith in the public square.
“I will continue to share my faith publicly, undeterred by the police’s censorship and the threats and violence I have faced, and will stand for free speech not just for myself, but for the rights of all people in the U.K.”
