London: A 76-year-old English grandmother in the United Kingdom who was fined for praying silently outside an abortion clinic during the lockdown in 2021 has had her penalty dismissed. But human rights campaigners still fear that the initial fine represents “a worrying trend in law enforcement” regarding certain beliefs.
Rosa Lalor, from Liverpool, England, was issued the fine during the country’s lockdown in February 2021 after a policeman questioned why she was outdoors. She replied that she was “walking and praying.”
The officer told her she wasn't praying in a place of worship and she did not have a reasonable excuse to be outdoors. He accused her of being in front of the clinic to protest. Lalor was arrested, detained, and issued a fine.
ADF UK, a non-profit faith-based legal organization, represented Lalor in her case. The Merseyside Police Department has now said that detaining Lalor was wrong. She was acting within her rights and had a "reasonable excuse" to be outdoors praying while walking in a public space.
In a statement released July 18, Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, which supported Lalor’s case, said that the controversial incident marked a worrying trend where individuals faced penalties for holding controversial beliefs.
He said: “We’re thrilled to celebrate a victory for Rosa today, but it is deeply regrettable that this law-abiding woman was subjected to distressing, drawn-out criminal proceedings in the first place, no doubt due to her pro-life stance. This follows a worrying trend in law enforcement where individuals are routinely arrested simply because their views are considered to be controversial or offensive.”
Igunnubole went on to call for “the upskilling of police officers across the country to ensure that they have a proper grasp of the right to freedom of expression and religion as it relates to public order.”
The remarks are pertinent to an incident last February when Merseyside Police were forced to apologize after erroneously claiming "being offensive is an offense" as part of a billboard campaign to encourage people to report hate crime. The force later clarified that while hate crime is an offense, "being offensive is not in itself an offense."
In a statement delivered July 18, Lalor said: “I’m delighted that the prosecution has finally dropped this charge after a long and exhausting battle for justice. I took this challenge forward with support from ADF UK to show that we do all have a fundamental right to pray — not least pray as I did, in the privacy of my own mind.”