Anti-abortion activists Father Sean Gough and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce were both acquitted of all charges in a ruling handed down by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. Both were prosecuted for “silently praying” and breaching an order outside an abortion facility.
Vaughan-Spruce, the leader of the pro-life group 40 Days for Life Birmingham, was arrested on Dec. 6 in Birmingham and charged on Dec. 15 with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO). At the time, she told The Epoch Times that said she was asked by police if she was praying. She said that she might be “silently in her head,” after which she was arrested. Father Sean Gough was charged with “intimidating service-users” of the abortion facility for praying within the same zone in Birmingham. He claimed that he remained silent, but held a sign reading “praying for free speech.” He also had a further charge related to parking his car, which had a small “unborn lives matter” bumper sticker on it.
In February, Vaughan-Spruce had her charges dropped, but her legal team warned that they could be reinstated. On Thursday, prosecutor Ekene Pruce said both cases had been judged not to meet the “full code test” for prosecutors, which assesses whether prosecutions are in the public interest and if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
Vaughan-Spruce said that they “dropped the charges citing lack of evidence which left me in limbo as they could take up the charges again.” She added that she was “delighted to have been completely vindicated of all wrongdoing, not just for [her]self but for all those who pray and offer help outside abortion centres.”
A “buffer zone” is an area within a boundary of 150 metres from any part of an abortion clinic. Breaking a PSPO can lead to a fixed penalty notice or prosecution. Prohibited in such zones are protesting and “engaging in an act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services.” Other banned acts include prayers, counselling, holding vigils where members audibly pray, reciting scripture, genuflecting, sprinkling holy water on the ground, or crossing themselves if they perceive a service user is passing by.
Vaughan-Spruce and Gough were supported by ADF UK, the British branch of the U.S. faith-based legal advocacy organisation Alliance Defending Freedom. Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International said that if “Isabel or Fr Sean had stood in the same spot thinking different thoughts, they likely wouldn’t have been arrested.”
In early February, the amendment to the Public Order Bill, which will make pro-life protests and vigils around clinics a criminal offence in England and Wales, was backed by the House of Lords. The Conservative government’s Bill was designed to strengthen police powers against disruptive tactics by climate activists such as Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and Insulate Britain. If passed, anyone within the buffer zone seeking to influence a woman’s decision to attend abortion services could face criminal charges and up to six months in jail for a first offence, or two years for further offences.
Father Sean Gough and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, both anti-abortion activists and charity volunteers, were acquitted of all charges in a ruling from Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. They had been prosecuted for “silently praying” and breaching an order outside an abortion facility.
Vaughan-Spruce, the leader of the pro-life group 40 Days for Life Birmingham, was arrested on Dec. 6 in Birmingham and charged on Dec. 15 with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO). Father Sean Gough was charged with “intimidating service-users” of the abortion facility for praying within the same zone in Birmingham.
In February, Vaughan-Spruce had her charges dropped, but her legal team warned that they could be reinstated. On Thursday, prosecutor Ekene Pruce said both cases had been judged not to meet the “full code test” for prosecutors, which assesses whether prosecutions are in the public interest and if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
Vaughan-Spruce said that they “dropped the charges citing lack of evidence which left me in limbo as they could take up the charges again.” She added that she was “delighted to have been completely vindicated of all wrongdoing, not just for [her]self but for all those who pray and offer help outside abortion centres.”
A “buffer zone” is an area within a boundary of 150 metres from any part of an abortion clinic. Breaking a PSPO can lead to a fixed penalty notice or prosecution. Prohibited in such zones are protesting and “engaging in an act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services.” Other banned acts include prayers, counselling, holding vigils where members audibly pray, reciting scripture, genuflecting, sprinkling holy water on the ground, or crossing themselves if they perceive a service user is passing by.
Vaughan-Spruce and Gough were supported by ADF UK, the British branch of the U.S. faith-based legal advocacy organisation Alliance Defending Freedom. Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom International said that if “Isabel or Fr Sean had stood in the same spot thinking different thoughts, they likely wouldn’t have been arrested.”
In early February, the amendment to the Public Order Bill, which will make pro-life protests and vigils around clinics a criminal offence in England and Wales, was backed by the House of Lords. If passed, anyone within the buffer zone seeking to influence a woman’s decision to attend abortion services could face criminal charges and up to six months in jail for a first offence, or two years for further offences.
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