The Daily Express has been blasted for inaccurately claiming that the story of a pro-lifer being arrested for praying outside an abortion clinic was ‘fake news’.
Writing on Twitter, GB news producer Paul Sapper detailed multiple errors in the newspaper’s coverage of the story. This included the claim that Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was not arrested for silently praying within a council-imposed censorship zone around an abortion centre. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) premises were closed at the time.
The misleading claim was first made by the Birmingham Mail and Twitter users before being repeated by the Express. But the Public Spaces Protection Order in force around the centre specifically prohibits “prayer” and it was this aspect of Miss Vaughan-Spruce’s behaviour that the police focused on.
Inaccurate
The Express article accused those who highlighted that she was detained after admitting she was praying in her mind of spreading “hysteria” and “misinformation”.
But Sapper said it was The Express that got it wrong, tweeting the paper to say: “I expect you to make corrections to the inaccuracies and possibly defamatory statements in your piece shortly. If not, I will be making a complaint to @IpsoNews on the grounds of accuracy.”
In response, the article’s author Tom Watling replied: “Sorry you did not like the piece @spsapper big fella. Will respond in full if/when I get a moment.”
At the time of writing, the paper has not corrected the piece.
‘Thought crime’
Some local authorities have been using Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) to enforce censorship zones around local clinics. In October, MPs backed of the creation of censorship zones around every abortion centre in England and Wales.
Speaking to The Christian Institute, Miss Vaughan-Spruce confirmed that she was not protesting or expressing disapproval of abortion, but rather praying in her head for friends who had gone through terrible abortion experiences.
With the prospect of censorship zones being imposed across the country, Vaughan-Spruce, a Roman Catholic, put her experience into context, asking: “Are certain thoughts going to be prohibited within those areas? Are we going to have our thoughts censored, what we can and can’t think in those areas?”
“It’s unbelievable that police would seriously be trying to clamp down on what people are thinking”. “But”, she concluded, “this is the reality. This is what’s happening. Thought is becoming a crime”.
Police
In a statement, West Midlands Police said: “Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested on 6 December and subsequently charged on 15 December with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). She has been bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 2 February 2023.”
She is charged with ‘protesting’ and ‘intimidating service users’.
According to her legal team at Alliance Defending Freedom, under the conditions of her bail Vaughan-Spruce has been told that she must not engage in any public prayer, even beyond the PSPO area, to prevent further offences.
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