Grandmother cleared of charges in abortion censorship zone case

A 75-year-old woman has been acquitted after a judge dismissed charges against her for offering conversation within an abortion censorship zone.

Rose Docherty, who is a Roman Catholic, was arrested last year for holding the sign: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want” outside Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. She did not approach anyone, or speak about abortion.

Sheriff Stuart Reid ruled that the prosecution “failed to disclose an offence known to the law of Scotland”, but noted that the case can be brought back if the prosecution provides evidence that she had ‘influenced’ any person within the 200-metre zone.

‘Treated like a criminal’

Responding to the ruling, Docherty stated: “I was arrested, charged and prosecuted for nothing more than peacefully inviting consensual conversation in a public space that I was permitted to be in. When I was arrested, I was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police van and placed in a police cell for over two hours, without a chair to sit on.

“Simply for being available for the lonely, the afraid and the coerced, I have been treated like a violent criminal. But thankfully, today the charges have been dismissed. The judge ruled that the charges were irrelevant and that they were a breach of my Article 10 free speech rights.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole of Alliance Defending Freedom International, which supported the case, added: “No one should ever be criminalised for peaceful speech, least of all for making a peaceful and consensual offer to speak.

“It is bad enough to be prosecuted for exercising a fundamental right; it is far worse that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service brought these charges without conducting even the most basic investigative inquiries, such as establishing whether anyone had been criminally influenced by Rose’s conduct within the ‘buffer zone’.”

Restrictions

Under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Act, people risk an unlimited fine for handing out pro-life literature, speaking to anyone about abortion or praying silently within 200m of an abortion centre.

Police Scotland has previously indicated that such conduct is not illegal when centres are closed, as there would be “no prospect of service users/providers being influenced/alarmed and/or harassed/prevented from accessing service by any protesters’ action”.

Similar laws restricting pro-life witness outside abortion centres are in force across the UK.