British police have paid £13,000 in compensation to a Catholic woman who was wrongfully arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic.
West Midlands Police conceded claims of two wrongful arrests of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, along with false imprisonments, assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search, a breach of her human rights and to the onerous bail conditions they imposed on her.
The award is being hailed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, the legal group that supported Ms Vaughan-Spruce, as a major victory for freedom of speech in what became the first “thought crime” case to occur in the UK for centuries.
Ms Vaughan-Spruce said: “Silent prayer is not a crime. Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads – yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that prayer is an offence.
“There is no place for Orwell’s ‘thought police’ in 21st-century Britain, and thanks to legal support I received from ADF UK, I’m delighted that the settlement that I have received today acknowledges that.
“Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned that this violation could be repeated at the hands of other police forces.”
She added: “Our culture is shifting towards a clamp down on viewpoint diversity, with Christian thought and prayer increasingly under threat of censorship.
“A ‘buffer zone’ policy is set to be rolled out by the government imminently – the language of which is inherently unclear, and will likely lead to further violations against the freedom to pray, or peacefully converse or offer help near abortion facilities.”
Labour ministers are due to review the initial guidance published by the previous Conservative government, which protected the human right to freedom of thought.
This guidance says that “silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer towards God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offence under any circumstances”.
Ms Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested in November 2022 for praying in a “buffer zone” surrounding an abortion facility on Station Road, Birmingham, but her case was thrown out by a judge in February 2023.
Weeks later she was arrested again when she prayed silently in the zone created by a Public Spaces Protection Order.
In a video which went viral, an officer is heard telling Ms Vaughan-Spruce: “You’ve said you’ve been engaging in prayer, which is the offence”.
Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman wrote to every police force to clarify that silent prayer was not a criminal offence, and the police in Birmingham eventually apologised to Ms Vaughan Spruce.
A United States government commission later criticised the UK over the arrests of Ms Vaughan Spruce, with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom accusing the police of “targeting individuals for their peaceful religious expression”.
Wolverhampton Catholic priest Fr Sean Gough was also charged for holding a sign within a buffer zone reading “praying for free speech” and his case was similarly dismissed by a judge in Birmingham.
The Public Spaces Protection Order banned all expressions of “approval or disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means” within a large vicinity of an abortion facility.
The Public Order Act, adopted in 2023, makes such orders national policy. It will be rolled out by the new Labour government and will ban all forms of “influencing” within 150m of all abortion facilities nationwide.
The ambiguous wording of the ban has worried volunteers that engaging in consensual conversation, praying, or simply offering a leaflet about help services available will lead to a criminal conviction, in a further breach of rights to freedom of speech and thought.
Already, two further members of the public have been charged and are set to face trial in relation to locally-imposed “buffer zones”.
Adam Smith-Connor, a military veteran who, partly influenced by his own experience with abortion, prayed silently near a facility in Bournemouth, will face trial at Poole Magistrates’ Court on the basis of his silent thoughts.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, a retired scientist, will also face trial in the same location for having held a sign reading “here to talk, if you want”. Both individuals are receiving legal support from ADF UK.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, said: “The fact that the government is reportedly set to name ‘silent prayer’ as a criminal offence, brazenly contrary to their commitment to international human rights law, exposes the crisis of free speech and thought in the UK today.
“Law enforcers are duty-bound to vigilantly protect, not prosecute, the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights.
“Yet across the country, Christians exercising their basic rights to peaceful expression have faced criminal charges for silently praying for, or offering consensual conversations to, women in need.
“We are delighted that West Midlands Police have acknowledged wrongdoing and injustice in the treatment of Isabel Vaughan-Spruce.”
He added: “Censorship violates human rights.”
Lord Frost, a Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, said: “It is incredible that people have been arrested for thought-crime in modern Britain. I am very glad Ms Vaughan-Spruce has received compensation for her unjust arrest for this so-called offence.
“But if a recent report is correct that the [new] Government is considering formally criminalising silent prayer outside abortion centres, then there will be further such cases, and then not just freedom of speech but freedom of thought will be under threat. It is hard to imagine a more absurd and dangerous situation.
“It would be much better to stick to the sensible approach in the previous Home Secretary’s draft guidance, which proposed a much better balance between the various competing rights and interests.
“If the Government scraps it, then it will be clear to all that its commitment to civil liberties and fundamental freedoms is paper-thin.”
Lord Farmer, Conservative peer and former treasurer of the Conservative Party, said: “A country like ours, which places such a high value on human rights and freedom of speech should be horrified at its citizens being arrested for their silent thoughts or prayer.
“What happened to Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was a travesty of justice and it is right that West Midlands Police make some compensation for the hardship she has endured.
“But the wider issue remains that we are living through an undemocratic clampdown on Christian speech, expression and thought in the UK which is set to intensify when the government rolls out “buffer zones” nationwide.
“If pro-life thought is considered prosecutable today, what other thought crimes might face similar measures tomorrow?”
Photo: Photo: Isabel Vaughan-Spruce; Jeremiah Igunnubole, Legal Counsel for ADF UK; image courtesy ADF UK.
