Abortion clinic buffer zone charges denied

A woman has entered fresh not guilty pleas at a court hearing, after being accused of silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, from Malvern in Worcestershire, denied five charges at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutors successfully argued that there should be individual offences for five separate breaches of the Public Order Act, relating to a zone around a clinic in the Kings Norton area of the city.

The 49-year-old was the first person in England and Wales to be charged under new "buffer zone" legislation which came into force in October 2024 and restricts some activities near abortion facilities.

The alleged offending was said to have happened on five different days over a six-month period from 13 June 2025 to November.

Prosecutors admitted in court Vaughan-Spruce was unlikely to go on trial before January.

The new law was created with the aim of preventing anyone having an influence on a person's decision to access, provide or facilitate the provision of abortion services, and also prevents anyone from causing distress or alarm within 150m (492ft) of abortion facilities.

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