UK man warns about state prosecuting 'thought crimes' after charged for silent prayer: 'Horrific implications'

A British army veteran who was recently convicted for expressing "disapproval of abortion" with a silent prayer in an abortion "buffer zone" worries his case is just the beginning of an alarming trend of punishing "thoughts" in the United Kingdom.

"I think this has horrific, frankly, horrific implications for England. The idea that the state has empowered itself to peer into people's minds and criminalize your very thoughts — that should terrify every freedom-loving Englishman," Adam Smith-Connor told Fox News Digital.

The father of two, a physiotherapist and veteran who spent 20 years in the British military, was found guilty in October of breaching the local government's Public Spaces Protection Order, after he stood outside an abortion facility nearly two years ago with his head bowed in silent prayer. The Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court sentenced him to a conditional discharge and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £9,000, (or nearly $12,000), according to Alliance Defending Freedom "ADF" UK.

"We will be appealing this judgment because nobody should be criminalized for their thoughts in the United Kingdom," ADF UK spokesperson Lois McLatchie Miller told Fox News Digital.

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Video captured that day shows local council officers approaching Smith-Connor and probing him to reveal the "nature of [his] prayer." After revealing he was praying for his "deceased son," he was warned that his prayer was considered an act of "disapproval of abortion" and thus was in violation of the buffer zone law. 

Smith-Connor told Fox News Digital that he often prays outside of clinics for people who are considering abortions as well as for his son, whom he paid for to be aborted over two decades ago. 

On the day in question, Smith-Connor said his back was turned to the building and he had not looked at or engaged with anyone before the officers arrived. He was surprised by what happened because just the week before this incident, local authorities had assured him he was allowed to pray outside a different abortion clinic. 

He said the ruling should disturb anyone with concerns about freedom of speech and thought being protected in the UK and across the west.

"Quite frankly. It doesn't really matter whether you're pro-life or pro-choice. You know, the abortion issue really is a side issue here, really. This is really a freedom issue. And if we so empower the state that it can make your very thoughts a criminal act, then every one of us is in trouble because you might agree with the government today, but in the future there could be a government you disagree with. But once you've established that thought crime is a thing. Then there's no stopping what they can do," he told Fox News Digital.

"It surprised a lot of people in the United Kingdom because it's 2024, not 1984," McLatchie Miller added to Fox News Digital.

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Smith-Connor's sentencing comes as the United Kingdom rolls out additional buffer zones this week across England and Wales, after passing legislation in 2023.

The zones, which extend to a 500-foot radius, make it a crime to "intentionally or recklessly" influence a person's decision and obstruct access to an abortion facility, according to Reuters. 

McLatchie Miller said that the law's "vague" language about "influencing," could amount to punishing people for having peaceful conversations on a public street or punishing someone for their thoughts, such as in Smith-Connor's case.

"We don't know right now if that's going to apply to silent stops like Adam experienced or to volunteers handing out or discussing options with women who are experiencing crisis pregnancies. But the wording of the legislation, 'influence,' is so vague that very well could be subjectively applied to punish people simply for the thoughts that they hold in their head, or the helpful conversations, consensual conversations that they have on a public street. So I think we are going to be in for a lot more of this in the UK," McLatchie Miller told Fox News Digital.

The ruling against Smith-Connor comes after another UK Christian won a lawsuit in August after getting arrested for her silent protest against abortion.

The British woman, who was arrested for silently praying outside an abortion facility, received a £13,000 (approximately $17,000 USD) payout from the West Midlands Police in Birmingham, England, after filing a claim accusing them of false imprisonment, assault and wrongful arrest.

Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.