Minister accused of ‘talking to the devil’ (From York Press)

George Eves given restraining order for accusing minister of ‘talking to the devil’

9:16am Thursday 4th October 2012 in News By Richard Catton, richard.catton@thepress.co.uk

A MAN who accused a church minister and her husband of “talking to the devil” and indulging in “demonic practices” has been given a five-year restraining order.

George Eves, 57, admitted sending packages to Patricia Cemm, of Westborough Spiritualist Centre in Scarborough, telling the couple they were going to hell after “swearing allegiance to the devil.”

The accusations were made in a 20-page letter containing pages from the internet and self-penned warnings. York Crown Court heard Eves, of St Mary’s Walk in Scarborough, was already the subject of a restraining order and a community order in relation to another woman when he sent two packages to Rev Cemm’s home.

Eves was arrested on December 30 last year for sending the first package but went on to send the couple a second one in January.

In mitigation, Taryn Turner told the court Eves believed he was trying to help the couple and was attempting to deter them from doing what they were doing.

She said he had recently found himself unemployed and that his life had gone “downhill in just a few years” and that he previously had a business. Eves was said to be keen to return to his home in Scarborough after spending time living in Hull.

Sentencing him, the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “Yours is a very unusual case. Your previous history is an odd one. You made your debut in the crown courts when you were 55.

“You were the subject of a restraining order and two other community orders. That order was breached in relation to another lady and you have pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated harassment.

“You hold some very strong views and the law allows you to hold these views and have disagreements with others but the law doesn’t allow such views to descend into the harassment of others.”

The judge said: “You are not mentally ill and I am told there has been no repetition of your letters to Rev Cemm and her husband.

“There’s plenty of evidence to show you are capable of spending an industrious life – you were diverted from that path.”

Eves was given a five-year restraining order, a six-month suspended prison sentence and a two- year supervision order.