Damon Jonah Kelly was banned from distributing homophobic material but has now had his ban overturned (Picture: )
An anti-gay ‘monk’ who flooded homes with homophobic leaflets has had
his ban on handing out offensive material overturned by a judge.
Damon Jonah Kelly, 54, distributed more than 40,000 hate pamphlets through peoples’ letterboxes to homes in 11 countries.
The literature referred to homosexuality and gay marriage as ‘sinful’, ‘immoral’ and ‘the work of the Devil’.
He repeatedly targeted a married lesbian couple who he called ‘the
witches’ and when they confronted him about his views he told them: “We
used to burn people like you. I’m doing God’s work’.
In October last year, Kelly was forbidden from distributing
the unsolicited material about religious, sexual or reproductive topics
to any residential, commercial or academic address in England and Wales.
He was also ordered to carry out 170 hours of unpaid community work after pleading guilty to harassment.
After being sentenced, Kelly, who is a former member of the extreme
Scottish-based Catholic group the Black Hermits, told the court: ‘You
will not stop the word of God’.
Kelly was banned from calling at any residential premises in England
and Wales, whether by doorbell, telephone, knocking or any other means,
without notifying the occupier of the purpose of distributing
unsolicited material.
Damon Jonah Kelly outside Leicester Magistrates Court where he appeared after distributing homophobic material (Picture: NTI)
But he appealed against the decision and on February 11 at Leicester
Crown Court Judge Nicholas Dean QC ruled the magistrates’ order was ‘not
appropriate’ and said it was ‘almost a hammer to crack a nut’.
The judge added: ‘No-one in this country has a right to be protected from offensive material or from material that causes anger.
‘This defendant, as any individual in this jurisdiction, has a right
to believe in the views in the leaflet and the right to express the
views, so long as it doesn’t stray beyond the law.
‘If he causes harassment, alarm or distress in the future, it would be a criminal offence and he would be punished.’
The judge amended Kelly’s sentence, giving him a six-month curfew between the hours of 3pm and midnight.
Ben Isaacs, representing Kelly, said his client was entitled to hold
and express his views and that was ‘one of the cornerstones of
democratic society’.
He added: ‘He would say he was distributing God’s message.’
As Mr Isaacs spoke, Kelly shouted across the court: ‘I don’t hate them, I want the salvation of their souls.’
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