British police pay £13,000 to Christian woman arrested for silent prayer

CNA Newsroom, August 19, 2024 / 11:19 a.m.

West Midlands Police have paid £13,000 (about $16,800) in compensation to Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a Christian volunteer who was arrested twice for praying silently near an abortion clinic in Birmingham, England.

The agreement comes as the British government is reportedly looking to toughen its crackdown on silent prayer near abortion clinics, with upcoming nationwide “buffer zone” legislation set to explicitly label the practice of prayer “criminal.”

Vaughan-Spruce, director of March for Life UK, was first arrested in December 2022 for praying silently in a PSPO (Public Space Protection Order) protected area outside a closed abortion clinic.

The PSPO prohibited “protests and participation in acts that intimidate users of the service,” which local authorities interpreted to include silent prayer.

In February 2023, Vaughan-Spruce was acquitted of all charges related to this incident. However, in March 2023, she was arrested again for the same activity.

“Praying silently is not a crime. No one should be arrested just for the thoughts in their head – and yet this has happened to me twice at the hands of West Midlands Police, who specifically told me that 'praying is a criminal offence',” Vaughan-Spruce said in a statement issued by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, the legal organisation supporting her case.

The compensation provided by West Midlands Police is an acknowledgement of the unfair treatment and violation of Vaughan-Spruce's human rights.

ADF UK reported that Vaughan-Spruce had filed a complaint against police for “two unlawful arrests and deprivation of liberty, assault in connection with an intrusive search of her person and a violation of her human rights in relation to both the arrests and the onerous bail conditions imposed on her.”

Despite this victory, concerns remain about possible future violations of freedom of religion and thought.

The British government plans to set up “buffer zones” around abortion clinics across the country, which could lead to more arrests for silently praying or offering help to women considering abortion.

Commenting on the wider implications, Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal adviser to ADF UK, said: “The fact that the government is reportedly seeking to criminalise 'silent prayer', in blatant contradiction to its commitment to international human rights law, reveals the crisis of free expression and free thought in the UK today.”

Lord David Frost, a senior Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, expressed concern about the developments, according to the ADF: “It is unbelievable that in modern Britain people are being arrested for thought crimes. I am very pleased that Ms Vaughan-Spruce has received compensation for her unjustified arrest for this so-called offence.”