A 28-year-old man from Derby has told a court he felt he was doing his duty as a Muslim by handing out leaflets that are alleged to be threatening and frightening to homosexuals.
Kabir Ahmed said he handed a leaflet called "Death Penalty?" to a passing policeman and put them through people's letterboxes around the Madeley Street area of Derby in July 2010 because he was spreading the word of God as taught by Islam.
He said: "My intention was to do my duty as a Muslim, to inform people of God's word and to give the message on what God says about homosexuality."
Ahmed, who is married with a nine-month-old daughter, is on trial at Derby Crown Court charged with stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, in the first prosecution of its kind since legislation came into force in March 2010.
Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema told the court the Death Penalty? leaflet was not educational or informative but was simply "threatening, offensive, frightening and nasty."
Giving evidence to the court, Ahmed, wearing a pair of grey trousers and a black shirt, said he had handed one of the Death Penalty? leaflets to Pc Stephen Gregory on July 2 as he was passing by the area of the Jamia Mosque in Rosehill Street following Friday prayers.
Ahmed told the court he said to the officer: "Something along the lines of 'Is everything okay?' and he said something like, 'yes, fine' and I said 'I'm not trying to offend anyone.'"
Ahmed's barrister Zacharias Miah asked him if Pc Gregory had told him he was doing something wrong would he have handed over the bag of leaflets he was carrying and Ahmed replied: "Of course, without a shadow of a doubt."
Four other Derby men - Ihjaz Ali, 42, of Fairfax Road, Mehboob Hussain, 45, of Rosehill Street, Umar Javed, 38, of Whittaker Street and his brother Razwan Javed, 28, of Wilfred Street - are also charged with the same offence as Ahmed, of Madeley Street, Derby. All five men deny the charges.
Last week Miss Cheema told the court about two other leaflets that were made and used as part of a campaign organised by Ali to publicise a counter-protest in response to the Gay Pride parade due to be held in Derby on July 10, 2010.