Cash-strapped council spends six figures prosecuting pro-life campaigners silently praying
A cash-strapped council has spent almost £150,000 prosecuting people accused of silently praying outside an abortion clinic, The Telegraph can reveal.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) council has twice taken costly legal action against pro-life campaigners who it said had breached a 'buffer zone' around the facility in Bournemouth.
In October, the local authority spent £93,000 taking Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran, to court for refusing to leave a 100 metre area surrounding the BPAS clinic in Bournemouth.
The 51-year-old claimed he was praying silently for his unborn son, who he now regrets aborting 25 years ago.
The army reservist, who served in Afghanistan, was found guilty of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) following a trial at the Bournemouth magistrates' court.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £9,000, which represented less than a tenth of the overall cost of bringing the case.
Earlier this week, the council appointed a highly qualified barrister, known as a Silk, to prosecute retired medical scientist, Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, who silently held up a sign saying 'here to talk' outside the same clinic in March 2023.
The Telegraph understands the legal costs associated with that two-day trial are close to £45,000.
The clinic at the centre of both cases has been targeted by anti-abortion campaigners in the past, and in 2022 the council made it the subject of a PSPO.
Critics including JD Vance, the US vice president, have claimed the measures stifle free speech and lawful protest.
In October last year, a new law was introduced providing a 'safe access zone' around abortion clinics, which makes it an offence for a person to do anything that intentionally or recklessly influences a person's decision to use abortion services, obstructs them, or causes harassment, alarm or distress to someone using or working at the premises.
It means the cost of future prosecutions is likely to be met by the Crown.
But the decision by the BCP council to bring two expensive prosecutions came at a time when it was facing significant financial pressure.
In 2023, officials even discussed turning off street lights, closing splash parks, axing lollipop men and women and reducing library opening times in an attempt to save money.
Last year, the council, which has a Liberal Democrat leader, struggled to manage a £44 million funding gap.
'Grossly disproportionate'
Jeremiah Igunnubole, the legal counsel for ADF UK, which has supported the legal defence in both cases, said: 'It's grossly disproportionate for BCP council to have spent nearly £150,000 to prosecute two Christians of good character, for a summary only Magistrates' Court matter with a maximum sentence of £1000.
'In a free country, citizens shouldn't have to prepare a budget to defend the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights.
'Adam Smith-Connor merely prayed silently for three minutes – and Livia Tossici-Bolt simply offered to talk.
'Far from amounting to 'harassment and intimidation', both are peaceful, lawful activities that should be able to take place on any public street in Great Britain.
'The council's ideological drive is clear, that they would charge the public purse such exorbitant costs to criminalise particular views.
'This is the very antithesis of what it means to live in a democratic society where the free and frank exchange of ideas through conversation should be valued, not penalised. Free speech is truly in crisis in Britain.'
A spokesman for BCP council said: 'In light of the previous high court judicial review brought against the PSPO, and the engagement of counsel, it was necessary for the council to employ a barrister for these cases.
'The PSPO covering Ophir Road and the surrounding area, Bournemouth, was introduced following public consultation in 2022 and is in place to protect those accessing or working in medical services at the British Pregnancy Advisory Clinic. The Council will continue to monitor any alleged breaches of this PSPO and take appropriate action when it is deemed necessary.'
The verdict in the trial of Ms Tossici-Bolt is due to be handed down on April 4.
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