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Disruptive churchgoer faces jail sentence under archaic law
Wed 14 Apr 2010
A 51-year-old woman could face jail after falling foul of a rarely-used law dating back to 1860.
Jean Gardner-Cato was prosecuted after allegedly shouting abuse at worshippers at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Bristol.
Parishioners claim that she regularly interrupted services during a four-month period by causing a disturbance and accusing them of having affairs.
Ms Gardner-Cato is currently free on conditional bail, but could be imprisoned for two months under the Ecclesiastical Courts Jurisdiction Act if she is found guilty.
She has refuted the claims of her fellow parishioners and insisted that she does not engage in anti-social behaviour.
John Rees, provincial registrar for the Archbishop of Canterbury and a partner at Winckworth Sherwood Solicitors, commented: "It is encouraging to know that the police and the courts are still prepared to enforce this law.
"It is a convenient way of dealing with all kinds of disruptive behaviour in churches and churchyards, and we often find that the police are unaware of its potential usefulness."
