The Homophobic Monk appears in Dunoon Sheriff Court

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He's back.

The Leicester Mercury reports:

[Damon] Kelly, a member of a religious order which calls themselves The Black Hermits, has appeared in Dunoon Sheriff Court, in Dunoon, on the west coast of Scotland, on two charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner. 

The court was told that Kelly, who lives at the Caledonian Hotel, Dunoon, entered St John's Church and then Kirn Parish Church on May 29 while a service was in progress and disrupted proceedings. 

His sudden appearance in the church, dressed all in black and shouting 'This is a synagogue of sin', caused consternation amongst the congregation.

Incidentally, the Mercury has taken to calling him a "fake monk". That's got to hurt.

The Homophobic Monk can deliver his leaflets again

Clarendon Park: a shining city on a hill

The Homophobic Monk was back in the Leicester Mercury on Friday:

A 'monk' who delivered homophobic leaflets to homes in Leicestershire has had a ban that curbed his activities overturned. 

Damon Jonah Kelly (54), had earlier pleaded guilty to harassment after a married lesbian couple objected to him putting a leaflet through the letterbox of their Clarendon Park home in October, 2014. 

He became aggressive and abusive when the women challenged him about the leaflet's content, saying: "We used to burn people like you. I'm doing God's work." 

Although the wording of Kelly's leaflet was not illegal in itself, he committed the offence of harassment when he returned to the couple's home a few days later and posted an offensive letter, with distressing content, specifically addressed to "the witches".

The report in the Mercury is not entirely clear. As I understand it, the ban on his distributing leaflets has been lifted, but his conviction for harassment was upheld with a more lenient penalty.

The homophobic monk is sentenced

A monk yesterday

From the Leicestershire Police website:

A man has been issued with a nationwide Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) after being convicted of harassment. 

Damon Jonah Kelly, 53, formerly of Millais Road, Corby, Northamptonshire, was sentenced today (Friday 23 October) after pleading guilty to harassment at an earlier hearing. 

He appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court he was sentenced to a 12-month community order and issued with the CBO ...The conditions of the order are [that he will not]: 

1. Distribute unsolicited material about religious, sexual or reproductive topics to any residential, commercial or academic address in England and Wales 
2. Call at any residential premises in England and Wales, whether by doorbell, telephone, knocking or any other means, without the prior permission of the occupier for the purpose of distributing unsolicited material as in condition 1,

Mr Kelly (or should that be Brother Damon?) is better know to the press and readers of this blog as the homophobic monk.

The police statement goes on to quote PC 4350 Emma Jayne:

"Leaflets have been distributed in Market Harborough, Loughborough and Leicester, but also in a number of counties across the country including Lincolnshire, Brighton, Cambridgeshire, Warwickshire and Northampton. Kelly had no regard for the effect his leaflets would have on people, some of the recipients were vulnerable and the leaflets only added to their distress."

Homophobic drunk put his genitals on pub bar and told police he was Batman

Reader's voice: Homophobic monk?

Liberal England replies: No, homophobic drunk. It's quite different.

Congratulations to Plymouth's The Herald on winning Headline of the Day.

Homophobic Monk guilty of harassing lesbian witches

The Leicester Mercury has the latest on the Homophobic Monk:

A monk has pleaded guilty to harassment after getting into a war of words with a pair of lesbian witches. 

Damon Kelly, 53, from a Catholic group calling themselves the Black Hermits, delivers leaflets campaigning against homosexuality and other things he regards as sins. 

When a lesbian couple living in Clarendon Park, Leicester, received his leaflet one of them stopped Kelly further down the street and confronted him and tried to hand him back the leaflet. ... 

The woman's partner joined her outside and defended the couple's sexuality and pagan beliefs. The court heard both parties were quoting scripture at other. 

Mr Chapman said an "aggressive and fanatical" Kelly told the women: "You know we used to burn people like you. 

"I'm doing God's work."

A fortnight later Kelly delivered a letter to the two women. It described "witches, gays, lesbians and sex-changers" as being part of the "devil's madness".

As Kelly has taken a vow of poverty he cannot be fined, so the court adjourned the case for three weeks to assess whether Kelly is fit for unpaid work.

I shall just add that should you want to look for lesbian witches in Leicester, then Clarendon Park is the place to start.

In which I pass the Homophobic Monk twice

Leicester Crown Court, Wellington Street
© Copyright Mat Fascione

I passed a figure in robe and sandals on the way to work this morning and wondered.

At lunchtime, when he was also furnished with an umbrella, I passed him again and was sure.

It was the Homophobic Monk!

Remember him? He even has his own label on this blog.

The Leicester Mercury explains his presence in the city:

A 'monk' who posted an allegedly homophobic leaflet and a letter to two women at their home in Leicester has appeared in court to face a harassment charge. 

Damon Jonah Kelly, 53, appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court yesterday in a black full-length robe to face a single charge of harassment. 

He is accused of posting an offensive leaflet to the women's home, confronting the recipients in the street and sending them a letter, which was also said to contain allegedly homophobic content, two weeks later.

Note the cruel scare quotes the Mercury puts around 'monk'.

According to Church Militant, Kelly is on of a group called the Black Hermits.

They were first welcomed into the 'diocese of Corby' (I suspect the website means Northampton) but now face eviction from the Corby presbytery where they have been living.

Homophobic monk arrested in Cambridge

Pink News reports that:

53-year-old Damon Jonah Kelly from Corby, Northamptonshire was arrested on 8 December on suspicion of a Section 5 public order offence. 

He was bailed until 20 January, at which point he will return to Huntington Police Station in Cambridge. 

Pink News has discovered that Kelly, who is actually a monk, is the director of the Scotland based charity the Black Hermits.

If, as Backwatersman once suggested, homophobic monks are, like Spring-heeled Jack, a manifestation of our collective subconscious fears, then there may be lots of them.

But is does look as though Damon Kelly could be the one who came to Market Harborough.

Homophobic monk photographed in Cambridge

The latest on our new folk devil comes from Cambridge News:

Vile leaflets that say HIV represents God's judgment on homosexuality and transgender people "need counselling and exorcism" have sparked anger in Cambridge. 

A "sinister monk" has been spotted around the Mill Road area in Cambridge this week delivering the pamphlets to homes, which also state paedophilia "claims its historic place in homosexualism". 

The man, who posed for photographs when confronted by residents, is believed to be the same person who targeted homes in the city in May.

One of those residents sent a photograph to Sarah Brown, who tweeted it.

Cheshire arrest in homophobic monk case

Rutland's own Martin Brookes has the story:

A 53-year-old man from Northamptonshire is in police custody over the leaflets branding gay people 'worthy of death' in Chester earlier this week. 

The leaflets, distributed in several UK towns and cities about to host Pride events, describe homosexuality as 'not natural' and 'part of the same moral degradation as...pedophilia.' 

Some eyewitnesses of the person or people giving out the leaflets say they are being handed out dressed in a 'mysterious monk' outfit.

Has the homophobic monk been to Lincoln?

We have previously blogged about sightings of a homophobic monk in Brighton, Cambridge and Market Harborough.

Now The Lincolnite reports:

Leaflets depicting homosexuality as “the Devil’s delusion” are sparking anger from Lincoln residents who received them in the post. 

Police are investigating reports, which suggest the Park Ward area of Lincoln has been targeted with the “offensive” flyers. 

The leaflets, which do not state the involvement of a particular church, states that: “All sexual activity outside of the matrimonial union of one man and one woman is sin, and therefore immoral.”

No mention of a monk, but the leaflet the website reproduces looks very like the ones he gives out.

Thanks to @blackwellharb on Twitter.

Later. Thanks to @Backwatersman for pointing me to this report in The Sentinel from Stoke-on-Trent. No mention of a monk's habit though.

Homophobic monks make the Fortean Times

Anyone with an interest in unexplained phenomena (or the way that they can ultimately be explained) will enjoy the magazine Fortean Times.

On its website it publishes a daily digest of weird news from around the world.

Today's digest included my post on the homophobic monks of Brighton, Cambridge and Market Harborough.

Homophobic monks sighted in Brighton and Cambridge

On Wednesday I blogged about the sighting of a monk delivering homophobic leaflets in Market Harborough:

The leaflets were delivered to homes in Granville Street, Bath Street, Nithsdale Avenue, Claxton* Street and Northampton Road. 

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “I saw the monk in Bath Street, followed by two angry people.”

It turns out that homophobic monks have also been sighted in Brighton and Cambridge.

Backwatersman has suggested on Twitter that, like Spring-heeled Jack, the homophobic monk may be a manifestation of our collective subconscious fears.

* Actually it's Caxton Street, after the pioneer of printing. There used to be a type foundry there.

The homophobic monk of Market Harborough

Northampton has its clown: Market Harborough, it seems, has a homophobic monk.

The Leicester Mercury reports:

A man dressed in a monk’s habit has posted “vile” homophobic leaflets through doors in Leicestershire. 

Police have launched a hate crime investigation into the incident, which happened on Tuesday afternoon in part of Market Harborough. 

Several people have complained about the leaflets which claimed homosexuality was a sin, immoral, a pathological condition and the work of “the Devil”. 

It also claimed homosexuality was “directly linked to pagan idolatry and its attendant depravity” and that events such as Leicester Pride were “lewd occasions”.

The paper goes on to tell us:

The leaflets were delivered to homes in Granville Street, Bath Street, Nithsdale Avenue, Caxton Street and Northampton Road. 

One resident, who asked not to be named, said: “I saw the monk in Bath Street, followed by two angry people.”