Christian loses appeal in ‘sin’ case

A DEVOUT Christian thrown off his university course after he said that homosexuality was a sin has lost his High Court battle to reverse the decision.

Felix Ngole said he was lawfully expressing a traditional Christian view and complained that bosses at Sheffield University had unfairly stopped him completing a postgraduate social work degree.

He argued that by throwing him out over the comments made on Facebook, they had breached his human right to freedom of speech and thought.

But lawyers representing the university said that in making the ‘derogatory’ comments he had shown ‘no insight,’ and the decision to expel him was fair and proportionate.

Yesterday, a judge ruled against Mr Ngole, saying the university acted within the law.

Mr Ngole, 39, of Barnsley, had posted the comments online two years ago. He was taking part in a debate on a public Facebook page about Kim Davis, a Kentucky state official who refused to register same-sex marriages.

Mr Ngole, who at the time was in the second year of his two-year social work masters, shared a Facebook post saying ‘I stand with Kim Davis’. Commenting on the same post, he quoted a Bible verse from Leviticus calling homosexuality an ‘abomination’.

A student complained and he was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by university bosses, who launched ‘fitness to practise’ proceedings against him. He was later expelled.

Speaking after the ruling by deputy High Court judge Rowena Collins-Rice yesterday, Mr Ngole said: ‘I intend to appeal this decision which clearly intends to restrict me from expressing my Christian faith in public.’

Andrea Williams, head of the Christian Legal Centre, said: ‘Rulings like this show society is becoming increasingly intolerant of Christian moral values.’