Sacked Christian magistrate in legal move

A CHRISTIAN magistrate who was sacked for his views on gay adoption is suing the Lord Chief Justice for religious discrimination.

Richard Page, 71, told a tribunal that he lost his role on the bench after expressing his personal view during a BBC interview that a child up for adoption would be better looked after by a man and a woman than a gay couple. The comments came after Mr Page, along with two other magistrates, considered an application by a same-sex couple to adopt a child in Kent in July 2014.

After the case his fellow magistrates made a formal complaint, claiming he had applied his Christian beliefs to make his decision.

He later told BBC Breakfast: “My responsibility as a magistrate as I saw it was to do what I considered best for the child, and my feeling was therefore that it would be better if it was a man and a woman who were adopted parents.”

He was sacked for serious misconduct in March 2016 by Michael Gove, then justice secretary, and Lord Thomas. He is now suing both the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice for religious discrimination at Croydon Employment Tribunal in south London.

The hearing continues.