Police have agreed to relax bail conditions preventing a Catholic woman from praying in public following her second arrest outside an abortion facility.
Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for praying outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service clinic in Station Road, Birmingham.
It came just two weeks after a judge in the city ruled that she had committed no offence the first time she was arrested.
West Midlands Police then imposed bail conditions which included a ban on her praying publicly – even outside the 150 metre buffer zone imposed around the clinic by Birmingham City Council in autumn last year.
The conditions, which were to run for three months, prevented Ms Vaughan-Spruce, a 45-year-old pro-life counsellor, leading a group of volunteers in prayer outside a local church.
The police said the conditions were necessary to prevent her from “committing an offence whilst on bail” or from “interfering with witnesses or otherwise obstructing the course of justice”.
The force has now lifted the conditions following a legal challenge submitted by ADF UK, which is representing Ms Vaughan-Spruce.
Her legal team argued the bail conditions were “unlawful and effected in this case for an improper purpose”.
Because there were no witnesses in the case, ADF submitted that the “interference with witnesses” grounds for the bail conditions were “disingenuous” and “imposed for an ulterior motive”.
The team successfully argued that banning Ms Vaughan-Spruce beyond the buffer zone amounted to a “disproportionate and unnecessary” restriction on her freedom in relation to the allegations of a “relatively simple” crime.
Ms Vaughan-Spruce said: “I’m glad to see some measure of justice restored to proceedings that had imposed excessive burdens on my everyday life. Nobody should be criminalised for the thoughts that they hold in their head.
“After my first arrest, a court found that my actions did not result in a crime and that I was completely innocent. Yet, I find myself arrested yet again, for the same activity – simply praying, silently.
“By imposing such arduous and far-reaching restrictions as my bail conditions, police officers ensured that the process became my punishment, even before I have been tried following this second arrest.
“The bail conditions had a serious negative impact on my life. The prayer group which I lead had decided to meet to pray outside of the ‘buffer zone’ to avoid any confusion during Lent. Yet even though they took this precaution, I was forbidden from joining them for our month of prayer meetings because of the restrictions of my bail conditions
The bail conditions of three months is the maximum initial period available under the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing (PCSC) Act 2022.
Under the terms of the Act, a suspect may be bound by imposed conditions even if the person has not yet being formally charged following an arrest.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, said: “The cavalier manner in which her basic rights were restricted is deeply concerning.
“In Britain, you are innocent until proven guilty, which means the citizens are entitled to demand that any curtailment of their civil liberties are proven to be strictly necessary and proportionate – criteria that West Midlands Police failed to meet in the initial bail conditions imposed on Isabel.”
In 2022, ADF UK and other civil liberty groups warned that broadly drafted laws under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022, will inevitably be used by police officers to erode the most basic of freedoms.
This concern is compounded by Free Speech Union’s recent report, which found that approximately 78 per cent of the police forces are providing no or inadequate training on freedom of speech.
Mr Igunnubole said: “By punishing Isabel without reference to the prosecution or courts, police are now in the ominous position of judge, jury and executioner.
“Newly introduced public order legislation has handed broad and unaccountable powers to police officers without at the same time training them to confidently differentiate between criminal acts and the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights such as free speech, thought, and religion.
“The upshot has and will be repeated civil liberty violations of the kind Isabel has endured. This in turn entrenches a culture of authoritarianism and will ultimately serve only to damage the public’s confidence in policing.”
He added: “There is now an urgent need for police officers to receive training on freedom of speech, thought, religion and associated civil liberties. In a free and democratic country, no law should ban peaceful prayer, charitable support and the free and frank exchange of ideas.
“No officer should be confused about the difference between the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights such as silent prayer and criminal behaviour such as harassment and intimidation. Isabel’s ordeal shows that unlimited power in the hands of an untrained police force will always lead to injustice.”