UK police pay 13,000 pounds to Christian woman arrested for silent prayer

CNA Newsroom, Aug 19, 2024 / 11:19 am (CNA).

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

The settlement comes as the U.K. government is reportedly set to strengthen its crackdown on silent prayer near abortion facilities by expressly labeling it as “criminal” in upcoming nationwide “buffer zone” legislation.

Vaughan-Spruce, director of March for Life UK, was first arrested in December 2022 for silently praying within a public space protection order (PSPO) zone outside a closed abortion facility.

The PSPO prohibited “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users,” which local authorities interpreted to include silent prayer.

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

“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 offense,’” Vaughan-Spruce said in a statement released by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK, the legal organization supporting her case.

The compensation from West Midlands Police acknowledges the unjust treatment and breach of Vaughan-Spruce’s human rights.

ADF UK reported that Vaughan-Spruce had issued a claim against the police for “two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights both in respect to the arrests and to the onerous bail conditions imposed on her.”

Despite this victory, concerns remain about potential future violations of religious freedom and freedom of thought. 

The U.K. government is set to implement nationwide “buffer zones” around abortion facilities, which could lead to further arrests for silent prayer or offering help to women considering abortion. 

Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, commented on the broader implications: “The fact that the government is reportedly set to name ‘silent prayer’ as a criminal offense, brazenly contrary to their commitment to international human rights law, exposes the crisis of free speech and thought in the U.K. today.”

Lord David Frost, a senior Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, expressed alarm at the developments, according to ADF: “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 offense.”