‘Monk’ sentenced on hate crime charges over vile leaflets comparing gays to paedophiles
A man who delivered vile anti-gay leaflets across the country comparing gay people to paedophiles has been slapped with a Criminal Behaviour Order.
PinkNews has regularly reported on the activates of ‘sinister monk’ Brother Damon Jonah Kelly, a religious activist delivering hateful leaflets across the country.
Leaflets seen by PinkNews claim that AIDS is “God’s punishment” for gay people, that homosexuality is linked to paedophilia, that transgender people should be exorcised, and that homosexuals are “like vampires”.
Similar reports of a man in a monk’s robe distributing homophobic leaflets across the country have been made regularly over the past year and a half, with the leaflets surfacing in Cambridge, Brighton, Stoke-on-Trent, Lincoln, Leicestershire and Chester.
After a number of arrests, in June Kelly pleaded guilty at Leicester Magistrates Court to a hate crime charge of harassment without violence.
The religious fanatic was today sentenced to a 12 month community order, requiring him to do 170 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge.
The court also imposed a Criminal Behaviour Order, – which specifically bans Kelly from “distributing unsolicited material about religious, sexual or reproductive topics to any residential, commercial or academic address in England and Wales”, and also bars him from “calling at any residential premises in England and Wales, whether by doorbell, knocking or any other means, for the purpose of distributing such material, without prior permission of the occupier”.
Lisa Morris, Senior District Crown Prosecutor at CPS East Midlands said: “Damon Kelly has caused offence when distributing his leaflets.
“The right of free speech is extremely important in our society, but when this crosses the line into harassment, it is important that the public is protected.
“This Criminal Behaviour Order is necessary to balance Damon Kelly’s right to free speech with the need to protect the public from such further conduct.
“It is important that communities are aware that he has been banned by the courts from these activities. Anyone who thinks they have seen Damon Kelly breaching this Criminal Behaviour Order should contact their local police force and report it.”
Kelly has previously sent a number of letters to PinkNews, claiming that gays are disciples of the devil – but his order bans him from sending religious material to any address.
A leaflet linked to Kelly, and one of the letters sent to PinkNews by Kelly is below.
