Bishop convicted of fraud over Covid cure kits says they held 'power of God' and no customers died

  • 'You ask people, there's no price you can put for life': Tap above to watch video report by Daniel Henry

A bishop who is due to be sentenced for selling a bogus cure for Covid 19 has told ITV News London that he stands by his £91 "plague protection" oil.

Bishop Climate Wiseman, 47, reasoned on Friday that the mixture was a cure "because no one who had used it had died of Covid 19".

He was found guilty of fraud in December over claims the kit, containing hyssop, cedarwood and olive oil, would stop people from "dropping dead".

"They were all cured," he told ITV London outside Inner London Crown Court, as he denied he was a conman. "I'm a man of God."

The bishop has a loyal following, who he encouraged to buy the product made of "special ingredients from the Bible".

Bishop Climate Wiseman demonstrating how to use his £91 'plague protection' kit

As head of the Kingdom Church in Camberwell, south London, he said he had a visitation from God and told jurors during his trial at Inner London Crown Court that he had performed miracles in the past.

"How can you say it is false hope?" he said. "It's evident. The reason why my conscience is clear, I've never benefitted from a single penny - all I've done is offer the solution."

When ITV News' Daniel Henry suggested to him that cedarwood oil cannot cure Covid, he responded "how do you know that?"

The cure was not only in the basic ingredients, but also "in the power of God" contained in the mixtures, he said.

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Also known as Dr Climate Wiseman and Climate Irungu, he and his church were investigated in 2016 for offering an oil for sale which was said to cure cancer, but no prosecution was brought after the product was withdrawn.

Southwark Trading Standards was alerted to his Covid scam on 24 March 2020 – the day after the country was plunged into a nationwide lockdown.

Wiseman, of Camberwell, south London, was due to be sentenced on Friday for fraud but will return to Inner London Crown Court on 1 February for sentencing.

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