Catholic priest accuses MPs of ‘censoring silent prayer’ outside abortion clinic
A Catholic priest has accused the Government of “censoring the streets of the UK” and attempting to criminalise “silent prayer” after being cleared of charges claiming he intimidated service users near an abortion clinic.
Father Sean Gough also urged MPs to look into the “overwhelmingly positive” work of pro-life groups after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told a court it had discontinued a prosecution alleging he had breached a public spaces protection order (PSPO).
Ekene Pruce, prosecuting, told the hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court that the CPS had dropped four charges of failing to comply with a PSPO brought against Fr Gough and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a charity volunteer.
The withdrawn charges relate to dates from last October, November and December.
‘Praying for free speech’
During brief separate hearings on Thursday, Ms Pruce said both cases had been judged not to meet the “full code test” for prosecutors, which assesses whether prosecutions are in the public interest and if there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.
Asked by District Judge David Wain why the full code test had not been met, Ms Pruce replied: “I would not be able to comment on that.”
In a statement, Fr Gough and Ms Vaughan-Spruce criticised the decision to charge them for “silently praying” and “praying for free speech”, saying they had been put “on trial for praying in an abortion facility censorship zone”.
Ms Vaughan-Spruce, from Malvern, Worcestershire, and Fr Gough, of the St Peter and St Paul Catholic Church in Wolverhampton, were both accused of “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users” of a Birmingham clinic.
‘Unborn lives do matter’
Reacting outside court after prosecutors offered no evidence and the charges were dropped, Fr Gough said: “I’m pleased that I’ve been cleared of all the charges today and have cleared my name.
“It’s wrong for authorities to censor parts of the street from prayer – even silent prayer – and from peacefully having conversations and sharing information that could be of great help to women who want an alternative choice to abortion.”
He added: “I was charged for praying for freedom of speech and for an old bumper sticker on my car that read ‘unborn lives matter’. I stand by my convictions – unborn lives do matter.
“Whatever your views are on abortion, we should be able to agree that in a democratic country, we should not be in the business of prosecuting thought crimes.”
