THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Ishmael Coot was an end-times evangelist whose services at his Tin Chapel in Fryup often involved snake-handling, using adders he had captured on the surrounding moors.  Coot preached that the Lord would protect those with a strong-enough faith, based on the gospel of Luke: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”  In 1990, Coot was arrested and charged over the death of a member of his congregation following a snake bite.  One week later, Coot and his four teenage daughters – Cassidy, Halen, Montana and Monroe – died after drinking bilberry juice laced with cyanide.