From the Mail on Sunday
Islamic militants hijacked a prison chaplain’s Bible classes and physically assaulted and abused him because of his Christian faith. Pastor Paul Song today describes how he was left in a state of near- constant fear after Muslim gangs, acting with impunity, came to dominate Brixton Prison in South London.
Mr Song describes how a hardline element grew increasingly powerful, threatening vulnerable inmates and telling them to convert to Islam for their own protection. The pastor says many of his fellow volunteer chaplains were driven out through intimidation, too. ‘My colleagues couldn’t take any more,’ he said.
Mr Song’s disturbing account of life inside Brixton Prison comes at a time of growing crisis in the prison service, which faces overcrowding and staff shortages. In the past nine months, four jails have been described as ‘failing’. And on Friday thousands of prison officers walked out for six hours in protest at ‘unprecedented’ levels of violence.
For part-time chaplain Paul Song, Brixton Prison’s oak-beamed 19th Century chapel was an oasis amid the hectic clamour of penal life. Before emigrating to Britain, Mr Song, now 49, was a detective in the South Korean capital Seoul. He became a born-again Christian with a ‘burning desire’ to help those on society’s margins, such as the homeless, drug addicts, and prostitutes, and for many years he ran a shelter in a Brixton vicarage.
Pastor Paul, as he was known, became a popular, familiar and respected local figure. Outgoing and brimming with enthusiasm, he made friends easily. He is an evangelist but, as he pointed out, so too was Jesus. ‘It doesn’t make me an extremist,’ he laughed. After the Church of England sold off the vicarage-turned-hostel he used to run, he decided to devote more time to voluntary work in Brixton Prison.
Relating to inmates, some of them highly dangerous, came naturally. ‘I think my time in the police helped,’ he said. His popularity spread and his courses were oversubscribed, attended by up to 80 prisoners. They met in the large multi-faith chapel, built in the 1850s when embracing Christianity was deemed essential to rehabilitation. ‘I was happy that everyone used the chapel and I always got on with people from all religions,’ Mr Song recalled. ‘In the early days there was never any trouble.’
But that was before Islamic extremists hijacked his Bible classes. One afternoon three inmates appeared in the chapel, interrupting a discussion on divine grace to loudly acclaim the killers of Lee Rigby, whose murder by jihadis on a South London street shocked the nation. To the disbelief of Mr Song and his fellow Christians, the interlopers insisted that hacking to death the 25-year-old soldier was justified since, in their eyes, it avenged the killing of Muslims by British troops. When Mr Song calmly tried to argue back, he was shouted down. Nor was it the only time his classes were to be similarly disrupted.
There were three full-time chaplains – one Catholic, one Muslim and one Anglican, the Reverend Phil Chadder, who led the chaplaincy. Mr Song began to feel the pressure soon after imam Mohammed Yusuf Ahmed was appointed as head chaplain in 2015. He said ‘the imam’s discriminatory agenda became clear from the outset’, when he began scrutinising the material used in the Bible classes, claiming it was ‘too radical’ and that the Christian views expressed were ‘extreme’. Elsewhere we hear that this was the Alpha Course, which I have been on. I have some constructive criticisms of the course, but radical and extreme it isn’t. ‘They are mainstream courses used by churches throughout the world. [The imam] said he wanted to ‘change the Christian domination’ within the prison,’ Mr Song said.
He described the intimidating situation inside the prison at the time: ‘Prisoners told me of other inmates who were punched, roughed up, and threatened by Muslim gangsters who told them to convert to Islam for their own protection. They also said that if they refused they would make sure they didn’t receive the good quality food, the halal meat, for instance, that was served every Friday.
‘They also tried to convert me. They’d scream in my face, Arabic things such as ‘Allahu Akbar’ – Allah is greatest. They’d also criticise Christianity, comparing it unfavourably to Islam.
‘One day I was walking through a section of a wing housing many of the Muslim prisoners when one of them came at me from behind and hit me hard on the back. They were all laughing calling me a ‘Chinky’ and ‘Crazy Christian’. It was very frightening and, from then on, I was very conscious of walking only where I knew there was CCTV.’
Reluctantly, Mr Song agreed to stop running his classes though he continued to work with individual prisoners. ‘The imam said I couldn’t use the chapel and effectively took control of it so I held a prayer meeting in a large holding cell but the imam got to hear about it and was furious. He is very big, physically intimidating and he kept urging me to just leave. I thought about it but I also thought, why should I give in?’
Following a visit to the jail in January 2017, prisons inspector Peter Clarke found high levels of violence and reported that ‘a third of prisoners felt unsafe’. It was also noted that the jail had been without a full-time Anglican chaplain for 18 months. Mr Clarke said one should be recruited ‘without delay’.
In August 2017 the imam sent an email to Mr Song warning him not to visit the prison without prior permission or ‘you will be walked to the gate’. Mr Song thought there had been a misunderstanding. After all, he had long been so trusted he had his own key.
He then received a letter from Graham Horlock, the prison official in charge of reducing offending, saying he had received allegations that he had called a prisoner a ‘terrorist’, made references to IS and had threatened the imam. All this Mr Song vehemently denies.The letter went on to say that the decision to remove him was ‘permanent and with immediate effect’ – with the ban coming before he had the chance to defend himself.
Mr Song said the imam ‘did not elaborate on which of my views he considered extreme, though I had only ever spoken the Bible’s message on forgiveness and grace.
He said he was aware of other Christian groups that went into Brixton and had their courses stopped and this led to Christian volunteers largely being shut out. Many inmates made witness statements in support of Mr Song.
One, Nigel Williams, praised Mr Song’s work, saying: ‘Hundreds of ex-prisoners have the highest respect and admiration for Paul and would say that his actions changed their lives for the better. The prisoners are devastated by his removal.’ He added that while there was a ‘lot of support for Muslims’ little was being done for Christians, adding that violent Islamist gangs ‘are trying to spread their religion by force’ and radicalise inmates.
Another former prisoner, Jeremy Conlon, said in a witness statement: ‘The Muslim prisoners created by far the largest gang that ruled the prison by threat of violence. The Muslims offered converts protection. With a shortage of guards this protection became invaluable.’ Those who didn’t convert, said Mr Conlon, lived in fear. He said it was impossible to ‘speak out about the oppression without facing a genuine risk of being attacked.’
In despair over his situation, Mr Song turned to the Christian Legal Centre, which sought a judicial review of his ban. In May this year, Mr Song agreed to stay the proceedings after an independent investigation was promised.
Led by Sara Pennington, governor of Elmley prison, it said Mr Song should be reinstated, after training for dealing with a ‘multi-faith community’. She said HMP Brixton’s initial investigation was ‘limited’ and did not follow due process.
Meanwhile the imam has been suspended over a matter unrelated to Mr Song’s case and the prison is now advertising for a new head chaplain. The imam could not be reached for comment.
Mr Song is now planning to restart his courses. ‘This has been a very difficult time,’ he said. ‘Not for a moment did I think that something like this could happen in England.’
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One Response
Ezekiel 3:8-11 Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forhead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.