The claim
A widely seen thread on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, claimed that “a man was convicted for standing still, silently praying, in England”. Other posts about the same court case said the man had been “literally convicted of thoughtcrime” and asserting “silent prayer is now considered a crime”.
Original publisher’s rating
Adam Smith-Connor, 51, was convicted at Poole Magistrates’ Court for breaching the safe zone around an abortion centre. He attested that he had been engaging in silent prayer as a vigil for his unborn son following an abortion procedure 22 years ago. The conviction was not related to Mr Smith-Connor’s thoughts while he was in the safe zone.
Reviewed by PA Media ↗ ·
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- [original] PA Media original review
Original review · Retrieved October 16, 2026
Original review: PA Media. Structured data compiled by Data Commons under CC BY 4.0. Publisher article content is subject to its own terms.
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