'Thoughtcrime': Army veteran convicted for silent prayer interpreted as 'disapproval of abortion'

Freedom of religion in the United Kingdom does not necessarily extend to private thoughts depending on location, under a "shock ruling" from the Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court, according to a defendant's lawyers.

Alliance Defending Freedom International said client Adam Smith-Connor, a British Army Reserves veteran who served in Afghanistan, received a "conditional discharge" under which he'll be sentenced "if he is convicted of any future offenses in the next two years." The court ordered him to pay £9,000 in prosecution costs.

Smith-Connor prayed for a few minutes outside an abortion clinic in November 2022 when officers questioned him about "the nature of your prayer" because the location was subject to a "public spaces protection order" that ADF International said covers several streets in the town. The interaction was captured on video.

They asked him to elaborate after Smith-Connor said he was praying for his son, and he clarified his son is "deceased." The officers apologized for his loss but said they had to "go along with the guidelines," which forbids "acts of disapproval" near an abortion clinic.

The prohibitions are described as: "Protesting, namely engaging in an act of approval/disapproval or attempted act of approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counseling."

Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council charged him, but since he refused to pay a £100 fine, Smith-Connor went on trial. He testified that his son was aborted in Leeds 24 years ago, though at a different clinic, according to the U.K.'s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.

The court ruled Smith-Connor committed "disapproval of abortion" because officers saw his head "slightly bowed and his hands ... clasped," but his lawyers said he did not "outwardly manifest his prayer by kneeling, speaking, or holding any signs," going so far as to stand behind a tree and not engage with anyone.

ADF International said the town spent "more than £90,000 on legal fees to prosecute the offense, which carries a maximum penalty of £1,000," in spite of the fact that it's facing "bankruptcy warnings" and has been ordered to cut non-essential spending.

"This isn’t 1984, but 2024 – nobody should be on trial for the mere thoughts they hold in their mind," former Conservative MP Miriam Cates said in ADF International's press release, dubbing the prosecution a matter of "thoughtcrime." 

She called so-called buffer zone regulations "disproportionately wide, leaving innocent people vulnerable to prosecution merely for offering help, or simply holding their own beliefs."

"We can hardly sink any lower in our neglect of basic fundamental freedoms of free speech and thought," ADF U.K. legal counsel  Jeremiah Igunnubole said. "We will look closely at the judgment and  are considering options to appeal."

The U.K. is set to roll out buffer zones around all abortion clinics in England and Wales at month's end as part of the 2023 Public Order Act, according to ADF International.