Formerly an atheist trapped in addiction, Shaun O’Sullivan transformed his life after finding Christ through a street preacher he once mocked. Now, he says he is being targeted by police for proclaiming the gospel on the very streets where he first heard it
I come from an atheist background. No one in my family has any beliefs and I had quite a troubled childhood. I went down a dark road, ended up homeless, living in a car park at just 15 years old.
Before I knew it, I was a criminal — addicted to crack, heroin and alcohol by the age of 16. By 17, I was suffering from alcoholic seizures. I was lost, with heart full of hate and a particular disdain for God and anything associated with him.
On the streets of Swindon, I would often see a street preacher talking about ‘repentance’ and ‘turning to God’. Every week without fail I would heckle him because he drove me crazy. I couldn’t bear hearing the gospel message. But the more I heard it, the more it stirred and convicted me inside.
I eventually went to prison for armed robbery. I’m not proud of it, I’m ashamed of it. I was a wicked man, driven by drugs. When I got out, I remember walking into a church one day because I’d just had enough.
I remembered the preacher’s message of repentance. I dropped to my knees and that day I was born again.
I got off the drugs; I got married and had children and I started a ministry called Awaken International Ministries.
I felt called to street preaching and now have the honour to stand with the same preacher I once abused and heckled, John Dunn.
The calling and the cost
When I am preaching, I often get spat at, pushed, punched and threatened. That’s part of the cost of following Jesus, and I accept that. What I never expected was that the real and sustained opposition would come from the authorities.
I have evidence of individual officers ‘liking’ posts online about me being arrested.
Over the past few years, I’ve been arrested multiple times for preaching the gospel in public — for sharing the same message of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that changed my life.
I was once arrested for saying “God loves you”, the justification I was given was it is a crime to cause a member of the public “distress”.
@awakenthestreetsuk Police its a crime to say God bless #police #christian #gbnews #reformuk #twotier #wakeup #swindon @everyone @GB News ♬ Sad Emotional Piano - DS Productions
The latest arrest was the most shocking. It happened in the lead-up to the first anniversary of the October 7th attacks in Israel. There was quite a bit of tension on the streets with a number of pro-Gaza marches taking place in the town.
I had brief exchange of no more than a minute with a group of Muslims who I believed were part of one of these marches. I remember saying to them, “We love the Jews.”
One phone call to the police was enough to see me charged, prosecuted and put before a judge and jury. The police, without any evidence, marked the false allegations that I had said “Jew haters” and “Palestine lovers” as a “hate claim”.
Months of stress followed. The Crown Prosecution Service should have thrown the case out, but, incredibly, they didn’t. In the end, I was eventually acquitted. My accuser ended up admitted in court that she did not like that I “spoke directly” to her. I was innocent, but at what cost? £20,000 of taxpayers’ money wasted on a case that should never have existed.
A caution for Britain
This is where we are in Britain today. You can stand on a street corner and shout about politics or climate change, and that’s fine. But if you preach the gospel, if you dare to question or even discuss Islam, if you express support for Israel, you risk being silenced, arrested, and humiliated.
More Christians need to wake up to what’s happening. The gospel is being pushed out of public life. It’s becoming almost impossible to have honest conversations about faith and identity on UK streets. If we don’t stand up now, the day may come when preaching Christ in public will be completely outlawed.
£20,000 of taxpayers’ money wasted on a case that should never have existed.
I once hated Jesus with all my heart. Now I love him with everything I have. And I will keep preaching, whatever the cost. But I pray others will join me – because if we stay silent, the message that saved my life will be silenced too.
I am truly grateful for the support of the Christian Legal Centre who have stood with me at every step. Without them, I genuinely believe I would be in prison simply for preaching the good news of Jesus on the streets.
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