A pro-life activist who held up a sign saying “Here to talk, if you want” near a Bournemouth abortion clinic in March 2023 has been convicted of breaching a buffer zone, and ordered to pay £20,000 in court costs.
The case has drawn the attention of the US State Department who said it was “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom” and was “monitoring” the case.
Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, was convicted on two charges of breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order which created a buffer zone around an abortion clinic. District Judge Orla Austin also ordered Ms Tossici-Bolt to pay £20,000 towards court costs and a £26 victim surcharge
The Telegraph reports that the case “caused the US State Department to warn it was “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom” and was “monitoring” the case.”
The US bureau of democracy, human rights and labour issued a statement on X which read: “US-UK relations share a mutual respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“However, as vice-president [JD] Vance has said, we are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
It added: “We are monitoring [Mrs Tossici-Bolt’s] case. It is important that the UK respect and protect freedom of expression.”
Asked about the comment, a source familiar with trade negotiations between Britain and the US told The Telegraph there should be “no free trade without free speech”.
Downing Street said it was vital that women using abortion services can do so “without being subject to harassment or distress” and the right to protest does not “give people the right to harass others”.
However, Rosalind Comyn, who represented Ms Tossici Bolt in court said: “The council hasn’t produced any evidence that Ms Tossici-Bolt was in fact either observed by any service user or any other forms of harm were caused by her behaviour.
“My point is not that breaches can never cause harm, rather that there is no evidence that Ms Tossici-Bolt’s conduct did in this case.”