Petition to reinstate Brixton prison chaplain gets 20,000 signatures

The pastor says he was falsely accused of calling one inmate a “terrorist”, which he claims was part of a Muslim senior colleague’s campaign to end “Christian denomination” at the south London prison.

Mr Song, who started volunteering at the prison nearly 20 years ago after moving to the UK from South Korea, taught Christian courses such as the Alpha course in the prison, which led to many prisoners becoming Christians.

However, he said the prison’s senior chaplain since 2015, Imam Mohamed Yusef Ahmed, began scrutinising the material, claiming it was “too radical” and that the Christian views expressed were “extreme”.

The final decision to dismiss Mr Song was taken by the prison’s management, not Imam Mohamed.

Mr Song has made contact with the Christian Legal Centre, which is now considering legal action against Her Majesty’s Prison Service.

A spokesperson for Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service told Premier: “We do not comment on individual members of staff.

“However, we recognise the importance of faith and the positive impact that it can have on the lives of offenders, which is why there are multi-faith chaplaincy teams in every prison.”

The charity has urged people to sign the petition.

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More than 20,000 people have signed a petition to reinstate pastor Paul Song as a Chaplain at HMP Brixton Prison after he was banned from the premises.