The officer of West Midlands Police is seen demanding that charitable volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce leaves a public area where she was standing alone and praying silently.
In the footage, obtained by ADF UK, a Christian legal organisation, the police officer explained that he believes Miss Vaughan-Spruce’s “mere presence” may constitute “harassment, alarm and distress”.
He said he drew his conclusions because it was known that Miss Vaughan-Spruce held pro-life beliefs and belonged to a pro-life organisation.
He thus concluded that she was breaching the rules of the “buffer zone” – an area within 150m of an abortion facility.
The buffer zone legislation does not single out individuals to ban from the area for their beliefs, but rather prohibits behaviours amounting to “intimidation”, “harassment”, or “influencing a person’s decision to access” an abortion facility.
Miss Vaughan-Spruce said: “It has been made clear time and time again through the verdict of Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, through the concession and pay-out from the police, through the words of the former Home Secretary and through CPS Guidance – you cannot break the law by simply existing in a buffer zone, holding thoughts and beliefs in your mind.
“Every person has a right to stand in a public space and think what they want. The police officer told me that my “mere presence” was offensive – that’s nothing short of viewpoint discrimination.
“He believes that just because I hold pro-life beliefs, I am automatically a criminal in certain public areas. This isn’t right.”
With support from ADF UK, Vaughan-Spruce has written to police to ask for clarification that a person’s mere presence does not amount to a criminal offence.
The incident took place despite West Midlands Police previously issuing an apology and a compensation payment of £13,000 for breaching Miss Vaughan-Spruce’s human rights on two prior occasions where they arrested her for praying silently in the same “buffer zone”.
Vaughan-Spruce, who has been a crisis pregnancy volunteer for two decades and has prayed nearby the abortion facility on a weekly basis throughout that time, was tried for breaching a buffer zone by praying silently in her mind at Birmingham Magistrates Court in February 2023, and was found innocent.
CPS Guidance from October 2024 stipulates that silent prayer is “not necessarily” a crime in an abortion “buffer zone”. The guidance further states that any actions must be “overt” to meet the threshold of criminality.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, ADF UK legal counsel, said: “Nobody should be criminalised for publicly holding lawful views or associating with any lawful cause.
“The idea that the state can interrogate citizens and instruct them to leave certain public areas based on their pro-life beliefs and associations is profoundly chilling and concrete evidence, if ever we needed more, of viewpoint-based two-tier policing.
“If Isabel can be treated this way then what does this mean for all Christians holding to biblical truths?
“This isn’t 1984; it’s 2025 – police must respect the fundamental rights of freedom of speech, thought and association.”