OSCR issues public warning over false charity claims
An organisation banned from calling itself a charity has breached official guidelines - and is once again posing as a charity.
The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has issued a notice warning the public that Campbell’s Ozone Therapy Trust is not a charitable organisation.
Last April OSCR issued a direction under section 31(5) of the 2005 Charities Act requiring the founder of the group stop representing it as a charity registered in Scotland.
The direction was complied with for the required six month period. However, OSCR says it has received information it is again referring to itself as a Scottish registered charity.
A statement from the regulator said: “While we do not consider it proportionate to refer this case to the Court of Session, we have decided, as Scotland’s charity guardian, to alert the public to this organisation and to provide background to our decision.”
The organisation had initially applied for charitable status in 2010 but was refused.
OSCR said its stated purpose was to raise funds to buy equipment which delivers “Bob Beck Protocols” – an alternative cancer treatment.
However, the regulator asked for independent evidence that this equipment would provide public benefit in preventing or relieving the suffering of individuals with cancer but the evidence supplied was inadequate.
“The evidence provided to us was detail from the website of two companies that market the protocols. We decided that this evidence could not be determined as independent,” said OSCR.
“After consideration of other potential sources of information, such as peer reviewed medical journals and other independent sources such as main UK cancer charity websites and other cancer support organisations, we were unable to locate any document or evidence to support the view that these treatments could prevent or relieve the suffering of individuals with cancer.”
A person who, without reasonable excuse, refuses or fails to comply with a direction under section 31(5) of the 2005 Act is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of £5,000 and six months in prison.
Background: Peter Campbell
Peter Campbell, founder of Campbell’s Ozone Therapy Trust, describes himself on YouTube as a “born again Christian and alcoholic.” He travelled to Bosnia in 1994 where, according to his website, he experienced a number of visions of Christ alongside the Virgin Mary which turned him towards Christianity.
Recently he has campaigned for UKIP and previously stood in Scottish local elections.
He was taken to court for not filling in the 2011 UK Census form – a requirement of law. His defence was that the Census was EU-orchestrated with all the information, bizarrely, sent to Russia.
The judge failed to accept this defence and fined him £200.
He has also campaigned against the Catholic Church and for the release of Kenny Ritchie, the former Scots death row prisoner.
