On October 16, 2024, a UK court handed down the first ever sentence for a “thought crime” in the history of British criminal law, finding army veteran Adam Smith-Connor guilty of “unlawfully” praying to God in his imagination.
Adam Smith-Connor, a British Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, was arrested for breaching a ban on protesting outside a clinic in Bournemouth, Dorset, in November 2022. Adam Smith-Connor was found guilty at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court for breaching the so-called buffer zone around the abortion clinic. His offense was that he bowed his head and folded his arms while praying to himself for his unborn son Jacob, whose termination of pregnancy he has regretted for more than two decades. Despite praying to himself, the court ruled that Adam had expressed “disapproval of abortion” by folding his arms and bowing his head.
The judges gave Conor a two-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay £9,000 (€10,770) in court costs just for praying mentally for three minutes.
Reporting on the case, human rights group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said the verdict was “the first known conviction for a ‘thought crime’ in modern British history.” The group is exploring the possibility of appealing the verdict.
During his trial at Poole Magistrates’ Court, Smith-Connor denied failing to comply with a public space protection order, but District Judge Orla Austin said his act was “deliberate”.
The news comes as Labor government Keir Starmer is considering a ban on silent prayer outside abortion clinics.
Ahead of the judgment, Lois McLatchie Miller, communications officer at ADF UK, called the case “era-defining”, adding:
“Can you really be tried and convicted for the beliefs you hold in your head?It turns out they can.”
Catholic MP Edward Leigh also criticized the judges for convicting a British army veteran for praying outside an abortion clinic.
“Sadly, we have seen repeated instances where freedom of speech in the UK is threatened when it comes to expressing Christian beliefs.Silently praying in the depths of one’s heart cannot be a crime.The government must urgently make it clear that freedom of thought is protected as a basic human right.”
Adam Smith-Connor himself also expressed his disappointment that the court “has ruled that certain thoughts – quiet thoughts – can be illegal in the United Kingdom.”
“It can’t be right.All I have done is pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind, and yet I am condemned as a criminal.I spent 20 years in the Army Reserves, including serving in Afghanistan to protect the basic freedoms on which this country was built.I am very concerned that our freedoms are being undermined to the point where the UK is now prosecuting for mental offenses,” the convict said.
Jeremiah Igunnubol, a legal adviser to ADF UK, a Christian legal organization that assisted Smith-Connor, said the decision was a “legal turning point of colossal proportions” because it marked the first conviction of a Christian for a thought crime in modern Britain.
“We can hardly sink any lower in our disregard for the basic fundamental freedoms of free speech and thought.We will scrutinize the court’s decision and consider our appeal options.Human rights belong to all people – regardless of their views on abortion.”
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice condemn the persecution of citizens who oppose abortion and call on the British government to stop the unacceptable violation of the rights to freedom of expression and participation in public life. The Foundation’s experts believe that anti-abortion activists, as well as representatives of other views, should have the right to freely express their opinions without fear of persecution and harassment. Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice believe that increased persecution of people whose values and orientations differ from those popular with the representatives of the British government can be seen as deliberate and coordinated acts of persecution of people with traditional values.