Convicted Christian wins battle for church services for inmates

Freddie O’Neil, is serving a ten year sentence for rape and is currently an inmate at the John Howard Centre in London.

After being transferred to the psychiatric centre in 2018, Mr O’Neil filed a complaint about the lack of Christian services available to inmates.

Mr O’Neil claimed his numerous requests were not taken seriously by the NHS Trust which runs the centre, after which he sought legal action with the Christian Legal Centre (CLC).

A pre-action letter was sent to the East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) stating that, as a Christian, the patient needed to attend Sunday Christian services each week and receive Holy Communion.

CLC had been informed that no such service was available, which was in contrast to the Friday prayers being organised for Muslim inpatients each week.

In refusing the patient these services, CLC claimed the John Howard Centre was not only discriminating against Christian patients on the grounds of religion, but also breaching a number of its legal obligations including the right to freely exercise their religious faith through worship and observance.

Following a year-long legal battle, O’Neil said he knew he needed to take a stand, not only for his own spiritual needs but for those of his fellow inmates saying: “I am a damaged person, a convicted criminal, but the only true redemption I have found in my life is hope in Jesus Christ. I…