Belfast street preacher who called former mayor a ‘f***ing c**t’ jailed

Colin Houston, 61, was set to appeal the five-month sentence imposed over shouting abuse at Councillor Paul Doherty and calling security staff ‘SDLP sodomites’ when they asked him to take down a religious flag at City Hall.

But his barrister told Belfast County Court that the challenge was being withdrawn following ‘a few moments of quiet reflection’.

As the Christian pastor was led to the cells in handcuffs, Her Honour Judge Natalie Pinkerton indicated the sentence would have been doubled if he had persisted with the appeal.

“You have taken a very sensible course,” she said.

Houston, of Forthriver Way in Belfast, was convicted of common assault, disorderly behaviour and resisting police in connection with incidents earlier this year.

Prosecutors previously set out how he became abusive while standing at the gates of City Hall with a loud speaker and flag on March 23.

Amid requests to turn down religious music, he initially shouted at an elderly member of the public: “Shut your mouth you f***ing c**t’.”

Mr Doherty, a former SDLP and now independent councillor who was deputy Lord Mayor at the time, said the street preacher then directed aggression at him.

He was branded a ‘f***ing c**t’ and had to retreat amid fears he would be struck during the confrontation in the grounds of City Hall.

Members of the council’s security staff who approached Houston about removing his flag from the railings were called #c**ts’, ‘d***heads’ and “SDLP sodomites,” a previous court heard.

By the time police arrived Houston had left the area, but officers located him three days later at Cornmarket in the city centre.

He became disorderly and struggled as attempts were made to detain him.

Houston was heard to state: “You wouldn’t be doing this to a Muslim, you wouldn’t be doing this to a Hare Krishna, but you do it to a Christian.”

During interviews he accepted there had been an interaction with Mr Doherty over the playing of music, but denied assaulting or abusing him.

The security guards were called nothing more abusive or threatening than “assholes”, he maintained.

In August Houston was handed a total sentence of five months in prison, which included the activation of a previous suspended term for assault, following a contested hearing at Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

He had been released on bail pending the outcome of his planned appeal against the jail term.

But at Belfast County Court today defence counsel initially sought more time with his client before the hearing.

“He has asked for a few minutes of quiet reflection, there may be a change of instructions,” the lawyer said.

Judge Pinkerton was then informed that Houston wanted to withdraw his appeal.

Granting permission to abandon the legal challenge, she added that the previous suspended term could instead have been imposed consecutively.

“Certainly that would have been a sentence of 10 months,” she pointed out.

Dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, Houston acknowledged supporters in the public gallery before being taken from the dock into custody.