'I have done nothing wrong' says Milton Keynes preacher given suspended prison sentence
A female preacher convicted of fraud has insisted she did not commit a sin in the eyes of God.
Collette Drysdale, who is 57, was last week handed a 12 month suspended prison sentence after being found guilty by a jury of fraud by false representation.
The prosecution case was that Colette lied about being injured in a car crash, saying she was sitting inside her stationary car outside her home when a neighbour reversed into her.
But police and the neighbour used video evidence, submitted in court, to say she was outside of the car at the time of impact in 2021 and did not receive whiplash injuries as she stated.
Despite this, she still insists she was in the vehicle.
The prosecution case was that Colette lied about being injured in a car crash and being inside her stationary car outside her home when a neighbour reversed into the vehicle.
Collette, a former teacher who is now carer to her disabled daughter at her Houghton Regis home, has been a regular preacher at the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes. She preaches under the name of Sister Collette Bell and her sermons have been published on YouTube here.
This week, following her sentencing at Luton Crown Court, Collette spoke to the Citizen about how the case had not affected her religious faith or her right to preach again. She still insists she was inside the car having “five minutes peace” at the time of the accident.
"I can still preach. I have done nothing wrong,” she said. "God knows the truth of what happened that day.”
“The judge realised the truth… the hand of God was over him, I know it was. That’s why he didn’t send me to prison and gave me a suspended sentence instead.”
“I have lived a clean life and I have never done anything wrong…I can still love God and I still worship Him.”
Collette was convicted of the offence in June and sentencing was adjourned until last week. She says she was “cast away” by her church in June and has not preached since. But she still plans to resume her sermons when she is ready.
"At the moment I need time to heal, reflect and worship in my own way. But there is nothing to stop me preaching again,” she said. “Even Joseph in the Bible went to prison after being accused of something he was not guilty of.”
She says she has suffered abuse since the conviction, with damage to her car and racist messages.
Collette was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, on September 10. She was also ordered to pay £2,000 in court costs and a £187 victim surcharge.
She had pleaded not guilty to fraud by false representation.