Man who prayed for his unborn son close to abortion goes on trial

An Afghanistan veteran who ‘hid behind a tree’ near an abortion clinic to silently pray for his unborn child has gone on trial accused of breaching a ‘buffer zone’. 

Adam Smith-Connor is accused of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order around the Dean Park Clinic in Bournemouth on November 24, 2022. 

The clinic is one of the most harassed in the country and an order was put in place by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) to prevent any forms of protesting in relation to abortion issues, including prayer and counselling. 

Former soldier Smith-Connor, 51, was allegedly seen behind a tree about 160ft away from facility’s entrance, standing in silence praying with his head bowed for four or five minutes.

Poole Magistrates’ Court heard he was approached by Catherine Brookfield, a BCP Council community safety accredited scheme officer who asked what he was doing.

In a video taken by Smith-Connor, a chartered physiotherapist, he told the council worker: ‘I’m praying for my son who is deceased.’

The court heard he is still haunted by the decision he and his then-partner made to abort their unborn child 24 years ago.

Responding to Smith-Connor, Ms Brookfield said: ‘My belief is you are here to engage in an act of disapproval of the work of the abortion clinic.’

She asked him to move on as he was within the buffer zone and acts of ‘prayer as disapproval’ were prohibited by the PSPO.

Father-of-two Smith-Connor refused and told her: ‘You are telling me that silent prayer is banned in this area? I’m praying in my mind and not approaching anyone.

‘I’m entitled to pray silently for my dead son in a free country.’

Smith-Connor, from Marshwood, Southampton, Hampshire, was repeatedly warned he could face further action if he did not leave the buffer zone during their over 90 minute conversation.

He was subsequently issued with a £100 fine for breach of conduct on December 13, 2022.

Smith-Connor did not pay it and so was charged with the criminal offence of failing to comply with a public spaces protection order under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

He denies the offence and his trial is underway at Poole Magistrates’ Court.

He broke down in court today as he said that he believed it was wrong for prayer to be criminalised in a ‘free nation’.

He said: ‘My son was aborted in Leeds 24 years ago so it is not practical for me to go to Leeds, so I go to a more local location to pray because my son lost his life within an abortion facility.

‘I feel it’s important for me to go to near that kind of location.

‘Prayer is important and prayer shouldn’t be threatened in this great land, so I chose go and practice this right.

‘I think in a free nation you can do that, and prayer should not be criminalised.

‘I and fellow servicemen made an oath to King and country that our freedoms are upheld and defended.

‘I am a law-abiding citizen.’

The court heard that Smith-Connor first travelled to the clinic 25 miles from his home on November 11, 2022 to hold a vigil to honour Remembrance Day, including a soldier he knew who was killed in the Afghanistan war.

He returned for a second time on November 18 and on that occasion he was spoken to by police officers who he claimed told him he was doing nothing wrong.

On November 21, he received a letter from BCP Council reminding him of the requirements of the PSPO; outlining where the buffer zone was and not to approach people using the clinic.

He wrote back on November 23 to alert them that he would be in the area the next day to ‘pray for his unborn son, the clinic staff and the babies whose lives would be lost that day’, but said that he would not approach anyone from the clinic.

BCP Council officers were stationed there from 9.50am the following morning and Smith-Connor arrived at 10.30am.

Kuljit Bhogal KC, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant accepts he was in a restricted area by the location at the tree directly opposite the clinic.

‘He accepts that he was asked to leave and he accepts that he refused to leave, all of those matters are not in dispute.

‘The PSPO doesn’t say you can engage in prohibited behaviour if you are out of sight, can’t be heard, making it look like you are waiting for a taxi or looking in a different direction.

‘This case is about Mr Smith-Connor attempting to undermine the PSPO incrementally.

‘There was a fundamental unwillingness to recognise why his type of behaviour can be detrimental to service users (of the abortion clinic).’

Although Smith-Connor pointed out he had been hidden behind a tree so nobody could see him, Mr Bhogal, said: ‘I am not being funny, Mr Smith-Connor, you are a large gentlemen, you can be seen behind the tree.’

Smith-Connor’s defence argued that Ms Brookfield had made a mistake in how she implemented the PSPO by including silent prayer.

Rosalind Comyn, defending, said to Miss Brookfield: ‘I would suggest that your understanding of what was and was not in breach of the PSPO was wrong and I’m going to put to you that the content of Mr Smith-Connor’s silent prayer which you have accepted was in his mind is not sufficient to make prayer an act of disapproval.’

In response, Miss Brookfield said she stood by her application of the PSPO which she said does not differentiate between audible and silent prayer.

Smith-Connor, an Afghan veteran, denies a charge of failing to comply with a PSPO and the trial continues.

He is being supported in court by the Christian charity Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK.

Jeremiah Igunnubole, who serves as legal counsel for ADF UK has previously said: ‘Nobody should be criminalised for what they believe – especially not when they express that belief silently, in the privacy of their own minds.’

The court case is taking place as it was revealed the government is set to enact new legislation to ban silent prayer outside abortion clinics from October 31.

This will be enforced within a buffer zone of 150 metres from a clinic or hospital providing abortion services.