Hate preacher demands death penalty for Mr Gay UK convicted of murder

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A Christian fundamentalist group has commented on the recent case of a former Mr Gay UK convicted of murder.

Christian Voice is headed by Stephen Green.

The group has picketed Pride events in London, Brighton and Cardiff and regularly makes homophobic and offensive statements about gay people.

Mr Green has called for the death penalty to be reintroduced after Anthony Morley, a chef, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Damian Oldfield in April.

“I don’t like the idea of putting a man to death any more than the worst humanistically-minded liberal,” Mr Green said in a statement.

“But the other day I saw a glorious rainbow and it reminded me that God’s institution of the nation state and of true justice is still in force.

“We need to remember that putting a properly-convicted murderer to death is a righteous act, not something to be ashamed of.”

Mr Green faces bankruptcy after he was ordered to pay £90,000 in court fees when his attempt to bring a prosecution against Jonathan Thoday of production company Avalon and the BBC’s Mark Thompson, for screening the acclaimed Jerry Springer: The Opera, failed last December.

His call for the death penalty for Morley contains several deeply insulting statements about gay people.

“Many people might have little regard for Morley’s victim, Damian Oldfield,” he said.

“They would point to the violence endemic in the homosexual network, the desire amongst some homosexuals for ‘rough trade’, and they will say that such a thing was bound to happen.

“And in truth, this is not the first murder from a homosexual pick-up, and it won’t be the last.

“Yet Damian Oldfield, despite the psychological flaws which drove him to seek casual sexual encounters, was a man made in the image of God.

“That makes the abuse he wreaked on himself worse, but it does not negate the sanctity of his life.

“The Bible says ‘a life for a life’ because only the life of the murderer can restore the wrong that has been done when innocent blood is shed.

“Morley openly confessed to his crime, and the evidence of it was overwhelming as well. This was not a run-of-the-mill “beyond reasonable doubt” conviction.

“In such a case, the need for justice and the requirements of compassion for a victim and his family cry out for Morley to be executed.

“In the Christian understanding, upon which our laws are or should be based, the death penalty was given to mankind for perpetuity under God’s covenant with Noah. That covenant was sealed with the sign of the rainbow (Genesis 9:12-13).”

Anthony Morley, who won Mr Gay UK in 1993, will serve at least 30 years in jail.

Last Friday the 36 year old was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Damian Oldfield.

The jury took less than three hours to reach their verdict.

Mr Oldfield, 33, sustained more than 30 stab wounds, some of them post mortem, and pieces of his leg and chest had been sliced off.

His jugular vein had been cut open in the attack at Morley’s home.

Police found pieces of muscle, skin and flesh under Mr Oldfield’s naked body, which was discovered by officers in Morley’s bedroom in his flat in Harehills on April 24th.

Morley, a chef, had seasoned and cooked some of Mr Oldfield’s flesh and chewed a piece before discarding it.

Chunks of cooked flesh were found on the chopping board in his kitchen.

Judge James Stewart QC, passing sentence today, said the case was “one of the most gruesome murders I have ever encountered in my professional life.”

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