‘No place for Orwell’s thought police’: Cops pay big price for wrongfully charging woman in silent prayer
'Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads – yet this happened to me twice'
A police department in the United Kingdom is paying a woman 13,000 British pounds, about $17,000, after catching her in silent prayer and then arresting her. Twice.
A report from ADF International explains the case is a victory against censorship.
It is Isabel Vaughan-Spruce – a Christian who twice already has been on viral videos being arrested for silent prayer – who is getting the payout from the West Midlands Police, to acknowledge her unjust treatment, and the breach of her human rights.
She had filed a claim against the department for two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights both in respect to the arrests, and to the onerous bail conditions imposed on her, the report explained.
“There is no place for Orwell’s ‘thought police’ in 21st Century Britain, and thanks to legal support I received from ADF UK, I’m delighted that the settlement that I have received today acknowledges that. Yet despite this victory, I am deeply concerned that this violation could be repeated at the hands of other police forces,” she said in a prepared statement.
The report noted the news comes only days after reports that the Home Office will strengthen the crackdown on silent prayer near abortion facilities by expressly criminalizing it in upcoming “buffer zones” legislation.
Lawmakers and bureaucrats in the U.K. are set to review the initial guidance published by the previous government which protected the human right to freedom of thought, reading: “Silent prayer, being the engagement of the mind and thought in prayer towards God, is protected as an absolute right under the Human Rights Act 1998 and should not, on its own, be considered to be an offence under any circumstances.”
Vaughan-Spruce was first arrested in November 2022 for silently praying in a censored “buffer zone,” a common practice also used in the United States to provide special protections for abortion businesses and deprive people of faith of their rights.
The zone, covering several streets in the Kings Norton area of Birmingham, was installed by local authorities via a Public Spaces Protection Order and banned all expressions of “approval or disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means” within a large vicinity of an abortion facility, the report said.
Her arrests widely are considered to be prosecutions of “thoughtcrimes.”
She was acquitted in February 2023, but just weeks later was arrested for the same offense again.
A police officer said at that time, “You’ve said you’re engaging in prayer, which is the offense.”
She added, “Silent prayer is not a crime. Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads – yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that ‘prayer is an offense.'”
Lord Frost, the senior Conservative peer and former cabinet minister, said, “It is incredible that people have been arrested for thoughtcrime in modern Britain. I am very glad Ms Vaughan-Spruce has received compensation for her unjust arrest for this so-called offense.”
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