First case in modern times of arrest and prosecution for praying sees charges dropped
Christian Hacking who was arrested and prosecuted for peacefully praying outside an abortion clinic in London has had the charges against him dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service because the officers illegally failed to caution him before they arrested him.
Christian Hacking, who needs a wheelchair after breaking his back in a climbing accident, was arrested by police and carried into a riot van on the 8 August 2019 for allegedly failing to comply with a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) outside of Marie Stopes abortion clinic on Mattock Lane, Ealing.
Despite being warned by the police that merely being on the green outside of the clinic constitutes breaking the PSPO, Christian Hacking said in response:
"I'm going to continue praying. I'm in this place because they're killing human beings inside this clinic, it is against the law to ban anyone praying anywhere in this land. The PSPO has been built upon false grounds, false harassment, fake news, I don't respect it. I don't think you have a constitutional right to stop someone from praying, so I'm going to continue praying here until you remove me, forcibly or whatever, because what's more important is that God's law is upheld in this nation and not the law of those who govern this nation and not this ludicrous law that says people can't pray."
After his release Christian Hacking commented:
"My Christian faith calls me to defend the voiceless and what more peaceful way can I achieve this than through prayer.”
“I do not regret what I did, and urge the Church to pray more, not less outside of clinics until the killing stops."
“Christian’s arrest should be a wake up call to the Church” urges Dave Brennan from Brephos, who is running a conference next Friday 8th Novemeber to equip church leaders to engage on the abortion issue.
Click here for further details of the case taken on by the Christian Legal Centre.