Anti-abortion campaigner Livia Tossici-Bolt, whose case was championed by the White House over free speech concerns, has been convicted of breaching a ‘buffer zone’ outside an abortion clinic and ordered to pay costs of £20,000. The Mail has more.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, was found guilty at Poole Magistrates Court after holding up a sign which read “Here to talk, if you want” near a Bournemouth abortion clinic on two days in March 2023.
The retired medical scientist was convicted of twice violating the Public Spaces Protection Order outside the facility, which is run by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
She has been sentenced to a conditional discharge for two years for two charges of breaching a ‘buffer zone’ outside the abortion clinic.
District Judge Orla Austin also ordered Tossici-Bolt to pay £20,000 towards court costs and a £26 victim surcharge.
The case attracted the attention of the US State Department and US Vice President J.D. Vance.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour (DRL) – which sits within the US State Department – said one of its advisors had met Ms Tossici-Bolt and was “monitoring” her case.
In a statement on X before the verdict, it said: “It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
During a speech at the Munich security conference in February, US Vice President Vance highlighted the case of Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted last year of breaching the same council-enacted buffer zone, suggesting it showed “in Britain and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat”.
Asked about Tossici-Bolt’s conviction, a Number 10 spokesman said generally that while “the right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy” people don’t have the right to “harass” others.
Quizzed on whether free speech still exists in Britain: “The UK has a very proud tradition of free speech over many centuries.”
District Judge Austin said while she accepted Tossici-Bolt’s pro-life beliefs “were truly held” the case “is not about the rights and wrongs about abortion but about whether the defendant was in breach of the PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order)”.
The judge added of the defendant: “She lacks insight that her presence could have a detrimental effect on the women attending the clinic, their associates, staff and members of the public.
“I am satisfied so that I am sure that the defendant did fail without reasonable excuse to comply with a requirement of the PSPO, namely she failed to leave the safe zone on both March 2nd and March 3rd 2023 when asked by an authorised officer.”
The judge said that the costs fee of £20,000 was a “proportionate” contribution to the £64,709.59 requested by the prosecution which was presented by a KC and junior at the two-day magistrates’ court trial.
Police officers had told Tossici-Bolt to leave after a woman said she felt intimidated and harassed by her presence.
She refused, claiming she was given no legitimate reason for doing so.
She also rejected a fixed penalty notice that was issued to her.
Worth reading in full.
In what way is standing there quietly holding a sign offering to talk harassing anybody? Harassment has become a catch-all term for unwanted behaviour, as though we have the right to dictate how the people around us may behave – or at least we do if we are classed as ‘vulnerable’.
Dissent will not be tolerated and people must be protected from seeing all possible signs of disapproval or being confronted with alternative ideas or courses of action. You may have free speech, just as long as no one can hear you when it might matter most.
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