Northern Ireland

Ashers Bakery discrimination appeal halted

Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company outside Belfast High Court 
Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company outside Belfast High Court  Daniel and Amy McArthur of Ashers Baking Company outside Belfast High Court 

A HIGH profile appeal by Christian bakers who were found to have discriminated against a gay customer has been dramatically halted to facilitate an intervention by the north's top legal adviser.

Attorney General John Larkin QC has made a last-minute request to make representation in the case about any potential conflict between the region's equality legislation and European human rights laws.

The McArthur family's refusal to bake the customer's order for a cake bearing a pro-gay marriage slogan was ruled unlawful last year.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said: "It is most unfortunate this issue has arisen only two days before this hearing.

"Although we have all tried to see if we could proceed with the case given the amount of work that has been done.

"It seems to us that it is simply not possible to do that without running into some risk of fairness in the hearing.

"We are not going to proceed with the hearing today."

Gay rights activist Gareth Lee, a member of LGBT advocacy group Queer Space, had wanted a cake featuring Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie with the slogan Support Gay Marriage for a private function marking International Day Against Homophobia in May 2014.

He paid in full when placing the order at Ashers' Belfast branch, but two days later the company phoned to say it could not be processed.

The high-profile case was heard over three days last March.

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Delivering her reserved judgment two months later, District Judge Isobel Brownlie found Ashers directly discriminated against Mr Lee who had been treated "less favourably", contrary to the law.

Ordering the bakers to pay agreed damages of £500, the judge said religious beliefs could not dictate the law.

The Northern Ireland Equality Commission, which monitors compliance with the region's anti-discrimination laws, took the landmark legal action on behalf of Mr Lee.

Mr McArthur said the bakery treated Mr Lee like any other customer.

The appeal, which has been adjourned until May, was being heard before three of Northern Ireland's most senior judges.

Afterwards, Dr Michael Wardlow - chief commissioner with the Equality Commission, expressed disappointment at the delay.

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He said: "We came here today for this very important case and we were looking forward to hearing the arguments.

"We are very disappointed that at this very late stage another argument has come in and that has to be resolved.

The reality is it could take months."