Plymouth Brethren Christian Church: 'Cult' claims by Leeds man led family and friends to accuse him of harassment

Lance Christie is standing trial at Leeds Magistrates’ Court after being charged with the harassment of his son, Joshua Christie; his nephew, Neil Christie, and seven other members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) between December 2020 and June 2022.

The court heard on Monday that Lance Christie had distributed emails and personally delivered letters and “dossiers” to dozens of members of the church, which has a congregation based in the Horsforth area of Leeds. In the documents, he alleged that the church was run in the manner of a cult and that it operated through a system of “kangaroo court”.

It was heard in court that the PBCC is a Christian organisation with a little over 50,000 members worldwide – many of whom are born into it – and a leader named Bruce Hales, who resides in Australia. The court heard that Lance Christie had been a member since birth but was excommunicated in 2017 due to, among other things, “heresy”. The court heard that this was a decision overseen by Mr Hales and it resulted in Lance Christie being told not to contact his children, who were still members.

In his opening address, prosecutor Robert Campbell said that Lance Christie had been contacted by members of the church – referred to as the Brethren – and told to stop distributing the letters and emails as the content of the communications “hit their core beliefs”. Mr Campbell said: “The defendant is perfectly at liberty to say what he wants on a public forum. But to actually intrude into peoples’ lives by putting them directly in touch with his arguments oversteps the mark.”

The first to give evidence was Neil Christie, who said that his uncle had visited his home in December 2020 to drop off a bundle of documentation. He said the content made him “feel sickened”, adding: “I was horrified at some of the content including private and personal information about me and other people. As far as I could see it was designed to cause distress and alarm. It runs counter to our beliefs and everything we hold dear. And it was being circulated very widely to most households of our regular congregation.”

He said he also received an email from his uncle in April 2022 which contained an “outrageous attack on our church and members of our congregation”.

During cross-examination by defence counsel Simon Myerson, Neil Christie stated that the church is registered as a charity and he chairs the Horsforth Gospel Hall Trust. The court heard that the church had only obtained charitable status from the Charity Commision in 2014 after agreeing to make changes to the way it treated former members.

Addressing Neil Christie, Mr Myerson said: “What happened before this charitable status was people who didn’t fall into line were locked away. They were ignored. Nobody would talk to them and only the elders would visit them to make them see the errors of their way.”

Neil Christie had said in his police statement that his uncle had a mental health diagnosis but when questioned in court, he said this was only based on “what his family had said”. He also said that his uncle’s estrangement from his family was “through his own actions and decisions”.

Mr Myerson suggested that the letters and emails sent by his uncle “didn’t contain a single threat or term of abuse”. He asked Neil Christie: “What is your objection to someone saying the church has harmful practices and needs reforming?”

Neil Christie responded: “Because I don’t think it’s true.” He went on to say his uncle had “accused the church of murder and suicides” in his communications. He added that his uncle's words had led to some members losing sleep and they “don’t want to go to the shops nearby where he’s residing”.

The second witness Joshua Christie, who said he became estranged from his father after he was excommunicated in 2017. He said this was over a “matrimonial dispute” and that “any trust there was diminished because of the proceedings and how they unfolded”.

He said that he had written to his father saying he did not want any contact but received an email in March 2021 with “70 pages of distressing content”. He said: “I was brought up by my parents to believe in the principles of the church. It was an attack on those principles.” He added that Christie had a “vendetta” against the church and his actions had left him and his wife “worried”.

Mr Myerson said that after Lance Christie’s excommunication, the Brethren had tried to legally force him to sell his shares in the company that he owned along with his son. The court heard that Lance Christie's shares were eventually bought by the church.

Mr Myerson also established through his questioning of the complainants that as part of being excommunicated, Lance Christie was forced to stand in front of hundreds of congregation members in Horsforth and “repent”.

He asked Joshua Christie: “Do you accept that would be distressing and humiliating?” He responded: “It’s part of the community’s way of managing when something goes wrong.”

Rolf Smaldon also gave evidence, saying that he approached Christie in his car when he dropped off a “dossier” to his home. He said he was “frightened” about approaching Christie but that he took the documents back without argument.

Mr Smaldon also detailed an incident where he saw Christie at a community property of the Brethren’s. He said he parked behind him, took photos and asked him to “leave the Brethren alone”.

A forth church member, Clive Anderson, gave evidence saying he was left “frightened” when a letter was sent to the Bible and Gospel Trust – another charity that he is a chair of – from Christie.

Mr Myerson said that the charges had been brought out of “spite and vindictiveness”, adding: "There’s a determination amongst the witnesses in this case to say they were frightened when they were not.”

The trial continues.