Source: Daily Mail

A Muslim convert accused of preaching sharia law in central London was ordered to stand up for a judge who told him: ‘This is not a court of religion.’Ricardo McFarlane, 30, allegedly breached an ASBO made in February 2014, which barred him from approaching members of the public ‘in order to promote sharia law’.McFarlane and a group of up to 20 other men are said to have set up a stall outside Topshop in Oxford Street on March 25 last year and called for strict Islamic laws to be imposed across the UK.He is also said to have gone to Tooting Broadway Station on April 4 and Kingsland Road in Dalston on April 16, 2016, to set up similar stalls.He denies one count of breach of an ASBO and was due to stand trial at Southwark Crown Court today.The bearded defendant, wearing a green and gold robe, told the court usher he would not stand for ‘any man’ before the hearing began.Judge Martin Beddoe noticed that McFarlane, who is on conditional bail, did not stand up when he entered the courtroom.’If Mr McFarlane isn’t going to treat this court with respect then I might have to deal with him differently than to release him on bail,’ he said before a break in proceedings.

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