A STREET preacher has been found guilty of threatening or abusive behaviour...after going to a shopping mall just days before Christmas and yelling that Santa was “a lie.”

John O’Neill also warned that children would go to Hell while “preaching the Gospel” at Braehead, in Renfrew.

He denied he had done anything wrong, claiming he was exercising his freedom of speech and religion.

O’Neill, 42, went on trial at Paisley Sheriff Court, charged with breaking the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 by shouting while expressing his religious views on December 22 last year.

He spent the lunch hour during his trial preaching to shoppers outside the town’s Piazza mall.

O’Neill, who is part of a team of street evangelists, represented himself during his trial and gave evidence in his own defence but did not swear an oath to God to tell the truth – instead affirming that he would tell the truth.

The Gazette: John O’Neill has continued to preach to shoppers, despite his court appearanceJohn O’Neill has continued to preach to shoppers, despite his court appearance

When asked by procurator fiscal depute Frankie Morgan, prosecuting, why he had not taken the oath, he replied: “The Bible tells me not to swear on anything.”

O’Neill told the prosecutor he had acted the way he did on the day in question because he believed he was entitled to do so.

He said: “I am called as an evangelist and that’s what I do regardless. We have a right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion and that includes manifesting it.”

Mr Morgan then asked why, just a few days before Christmas, in a shopping centre full of young families, he took it upon himself to “tell them Santa is a lie.”

O’Neill replied: “I have a right to speak the truth. The Bible tells me to speak the truth to every creature.”

He added: “Santa is a lie. I know it caused upset but that’s not why I did it.

“Preaching the Gospel upsets people. Should I therefore stop preaching the Gospel?”

O’Neill denied claims he had said “all the children will go to Hell,” telling the court: “I believe children will go to Heaven.”

However, Sheriff Lindsey Kooner convicted O’Neill of the single charge against him, ruling that his actions could cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm.

Sentence was deferred for three months for O’Neill, from Hamilton, to be of good behaviour.

He is due to return to the dock in June to learn his fate.

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