A senior pastor with more than 35 years of evangelical ministry has been arrested by British police while preaching in a public street, sparking outrage among his supporters after footage of the incident circulated widely online.
Steve Maile, senior pastor of Oasis City Church in Watford and a well-known figure in apostolic evangelical circles, was detained in front of his wife, Karina — who is also his co-pastor — and their children. Video footage captured during the arrest shows Maile continuing to preach as officers moved to restrain him, declaring repeatedly that no offence was being committed.
“You cannot arrest me. I am a preacher of the Gospel,” he can be heard saying in the footage, addressing officers directly as they approached him. “There is no offence being committed here. None whatsoever.” As he was handcuffed, he continued preaching to those around him: “You repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved.” He can also be heard protesting that he had not assaulted anyone and demanding the handcuffs be removed.
Speaking in a video message posted to supporters in the early hours of the following morning, Maile said he had returned home at around 1am after several hours in police custody. He described the experience as deeply distressing, both for himself and his family.
“I was absolutely brutalised and victimised by the British police,” he said. “I was in excruciating pain. I was double handcuffed and arrested on the street in front of my wife, my children. My wife was shaking. It was a terrible experience and my children were crying.” He said the allegations made against him were “completely false” and that he had been interrogated for several hours before being released. He confirmed he had been placed on bail for three months, a development he described as “absolute nonsense.”
Despite the ordeal, Maile was defiant in his message to supporters. “You will never, ever stop Steve Maile preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said, adding that he intended to seek the best legal advice available.
Maile, who became a Christian in Auckland, New Zealand in 1979, has spent decades in full-time ministry across more than fifty nations, having previously left a career as a head chef to pursue evangelical work. He has ministered alongside prominent figures in the global evangelical movement and founded Oasis City Church with his wife, who serves alongside him as co-pastor. The couple have four children, some of whom are also involved in the ministry.
The precise grounds for his arrest have not been confirmed by police. The allegations he faced, which he has denied in their entirety, are not detailed in material he has made public. A statement from police had not been issued at the time of publication.
Maile’s case is not without precedent. A strikingly similar incident involving another British street preacher has raised fresh questions about the policing of religious expression in public spaces.
Pastor Dia Moodley, 58, was arrested by Avon and Somerset Police in Bristol’s Broadmead shopping area last November on suspicion of inciting religious hatred under the Public Order Act 1986, after publicly sharing his Christian views on transgender ideology and the differences between Christianity and Islam. Officers attended the scene following a complaint from a couple who had objected to his comments on gender, and arrested him without hearing the accounts of the pastor or members of his congregation who were present.
Moodley, who has a heart condition, was visibly distressed during the arrest and asked that his handcuffs be placed in front of his body rather than behind his back to allow him to breathe properly. He was held in a police cell for eight hours before being released under bail conditions that initially banned him from entering Bristol city centre until 30 December — effectively preventing him from preaching in the city during one of its busiest periods. Those conditions were lifted on 17 December following representations made by his legal team, though not before they had disrupted both his ministry and his personal life.
Two police officers subsequently visited Moodley’s home on 8 January and questioned him further about the November incident, inviting him to attend a voluntary interview under caution. He is currently awaiting a decision on whether he will face criminal charges.
Legal support is being provided by ADF International, whose legal counsel Jeremiah Igunnubole said the arrest was part of a broader pattern of behaviour from Avon and Somerset Police. “Pastor Dia’s arrest for peacefully commenting on Islam and transgender ideology shows police are using public order legislation to impose de facto blasphemy laws in the UK,” he said. “It is part of a clear pattern of behaviour from Avon and Somerset Police, who for years have targeted Pastor Dia for his peaceful expression in the public square and have failed in their duty to investigate serious crimes committed against him.”
It is not the first time Moodley has faced police action. In March 2025, he was twice threatened with arrest for breaching the peace while preaching about the differences between Christianity and Islam. On that occasion, he was assaulted by bystanders — one of whom threatened to stab him — yet no charges were brought against any of his attackers. Police had previously attempted to restrict him from commenting on any religion other than Christianity during street preaching, restrictions that were subsequently dropped and acknowledged to have been “disproportionate” after Moodley launched a legal challenge with ADF International’s support.
Moodley said the repeated targeting had taken a significant personal toll. “I am a law-abiding citizen and it feels surreal that the police have criminalised me so harshly and repeatedly merely for peacefully expressing my Christian views in the public square,” he said. “I believe that the police view me, a Christian pastor, as an easy target and are afraid of others being offended by my lawful speech. This is two-tier policing in action.”
