An army veteran has today been convicted for praying silently near an abortion clinic.
Adam Smith-Connor, who served in Afghanistan, was prosecuted for breaching a ban on protests within a buffer zone around a clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset, in November 2022. His head was bowed and hands were clasped as he prayed for his unborn son Jacob, whom he now regrets aborting more than two decades ago.
Reporting on the case, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) legal advocacy group said the conviction was “the first known conviction of a ‘thoughtcrime’ in modern British history.”
It added that Smith-Connor must now pay £9,000 (€10,770) in legal costs to the prosecution, just for praying in his head for three minutes.
The group is examining the possibility of appealing the conviction.
During the trial at Poole Magistrates’ Court, Smith-Connor denied the offence of failing to comply with the Public Space Protection Order, but District Judge Orla Austin said that what he did was “deliberate.”
The news comes as Keir Starmer’s Labour government is considering rolling out a ban on silent prayer outside abortion clinics.
Ahead of the ruling, Lois McLatchie Miller, who is communications officer at ADF UK, described the case as “era-defining,” adding:
Either you can be tried and convicted for the beliefs you hold in your head, or you can’t.
It turns out that you can.
