Claims of harassment against Leeds man from 'fundamentalist' church are 'out of spite and vindictiveness', court hears

Lance Christie, 67, from Yeadon, has been charged with the harassment of eight members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church; including two of his sons and his nephew. The accusations relate to claims that Christie sent emails and individually posted letters between December 2020 and June 2022 to dozens of members of the Brethren, leaving them “sickened”.

The court heard that Christie had been a member of the church, which has a congregation based in Horsforth, since birth but was excommunicated in 2017 due to, among other things, acts of “heresy”. In the documents he shared he accused the church of being a “cult” and said it operated through a system of “kangaroo court”. Christie said that the church had “caused him to lose his family and business”.

On the second day of the trial yesterday (Tuesday), Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard evidence from four more members of the church who claimed they were harassed; Christie’s son Jed Christie, Lee Armstrong, Charles Thomas and Glen Harding.

Mr Thomas, a member of the church’s congregation in Doncaster, said that he had been “supporting people” who had been contacted by Christie after he was excommunicated and that he received an email himself from him in April 2021 which he found “distressing”. He said: “The whole tone and nature of the email was upsetting. It was an attack on what’s precious to me.”

During Mr Thomas’s cross examination, Christie’s representative Simon Myerson KC said that Christie’s email was a reply to another message sent by a member of the church for which other members including Mr Thomas were recipients. Mr Myerson asked Mr Thomas why he opened the email if he knew that he might find the content distressing, to which he replied: “I felt I had a duty as a responsible person.”

Members also complained about links to YouTube videos criticising the Brethren that were included in Christie’s correspondence.

Mr Myerson questioned Mr Thomas whether it was fair to regard the church, which has around 15,000 members in the UK, as “fundamentalist”, to which Mr Thomas agreed. He then asked: “People don’t really take to fundamentalism in this country. But you don’t go around social media checking on what people are saying about you. So why click these links? You don’t have to.

"You are saying this man must be a criminal for sending a link which you looked at. That’s outrageous isn’t it? Why confound your anxiety and stress?

"You read it so you could say you were outraged and then made a complaint. That is why you did it.”

Mr Thomas replied: “I would say I read it because having already taken complaints I was concerned about how we get to a point where we are no longer going to be harassed by this man.”

The court also heard that Christie had been contacted by a legal firm in London on behalf of the Brethren threatening to take legal action in the civil courts if he did not stop contacting members. Asked why the Brethren went on to contact the police, Mr Thomas said: “We have never known a case like this. It was an unrelenting campaign and I don’t believe it will stop until an order is in place.

"It was a very big step to do that and it was the last thing we wanted to do.”

Mr Myerson said: “You watched it happen for five years and didn’t do anything about it. It would have been easier to go the county court and get a civil conviction so why haven’t you?

"Can I suggest it’s because you wanted to criminalise him. You are part of a concerted effort out of vindictiveness and spite.”

Giving evidence, Brethren member Mr Harding said he found the details of an email sent to him “sickening”. He added that links included were “filled with bile” and “untruths”, including accusations from Christie that the church had been responsible for suicides and murder.

When asked about the delay in contacting the police after receiving the emails, Mr Harding said he had contacted “the elders” of the church to say he would give a statement, adding: “The only reason I didn’t go straight away was because I didn’t want it to look organised.”

In cross examination, Mr Myerson said: “But it was organised, wasn’t it?

Mr Harding said he opened the emails and links because “it’s natural to want to know if something is being said about you”. Mr Myerson said: "You have opened the emails you could have put in the bin and clicked on the links you didn’t have to. It sounds like someone hitting themself in the face and saying ‘look what you made me do’.”

PC Oliver Wilkin of West Yorkshire Police also gave evidence, saying Christie was interviewed on two occasions after police were contacted by members of the Brethren. He said that police assessed the correspondence and found that there wasn’t any threats but that they told Christie that if his conduct continued it “may constitute harassment”.

A summary of two police interviews that Christie had were also read out, in which Christie admitted sending the letters and emails and told police “his motive is not to harass or upset anybody but to draw their attention to things happening in the church”. Christie said that the church had “caused him to lose his family and business” and added that “members may find the letters distressing but sometimes the truth is hard”.

In the second interview Christie admitted he had been warned but “he believed his human rights were being breached by the church by having no contact with his family” and said he intends to continue sending the messages.

The trial continues.