An army veteran who served in Afghanistan has blasted police for ‘prosecuting thoughtcrimes’ after he was charged for silently praying for his dead son near an abortion clinic.

Adam Smith-Connor, 50, claims he was approached by two council officers as he stood on the pavement outside the BPAS clinic on Ophir Road in Bournemouth last year. He alleges he was questioned about ‘the nature of his prayer’.

Mr Smith-Connor, of Southampton, who said his girlfriend had an abortion two decades ago, told the officers he was ‘praying for my son’, but one of them explained he was in breach of the terms of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

The father-of-two and physiotherapist claims he was issued a fine for breaking a local ‘buffer zone’ regulation that reportedly forbids ‘expression of approval or disapproval’ of abortion. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in August this year.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, which charged him with the offence, claims he refused to leave the required area when asked by an officer, failing to comply with a requirement of the PSPO.

Now, ahead of his court hearing next week, Mr Smith-Connor has questioned how in an ‘apparently free society’ he can be ‘criminalized on the basis of what I expressed silently, in the privacy of my own mind’.

Mr Smith-Connor, who served in the military for 20 years, was confronted by police in November last year as he silently prayed with his back turned away from the clinic.

Body camera footage appears to show police questioning the ‘nature’ of his prayers. He explained that he was praying about the loss of his son 22 years ago and for those who are making decisions about abortion today. 

He was then issued with a notice of a penalty fine of £100 which allegedly acknowledged that he was being charged for ‘praying for his deceased son’. 

He entered a ‘not guilty’ plea at Poole Magistrates Court in August and is due in court for a hearing on November 16.

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