A 64-year-old woman has been convicted of violating a ‘buffer zone’ outside a Bournemouth abroad clinic.
Livia Tossici-Bolt was convicted at Poole Magistrate’s Court on two counts of violating the public spaces order on two days in March 2023.
Ms Tossici-Bolt, from Bournemouth, held a sign and said, “Here to talk, if you will.”
District Judge Orla Austin told the defendant’s court: “She has no insight that her presence can have a detrimental effect on the women attending the clinic, their co -workers, staff and members of the public.”
She added: “I accept that her beliefs are truly beliefs. Although it was assumed that this defendant had the views of life, it is important to note that this matter is not about the rights and injustices about abortion, but about whether the defendant was in conflict with the popo [Public Spaces Protection Order]. “
The case is the center of a free speech controversy involving the US government.
It was highlighted by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), a Bureau in the US Department of State, which posted a statement on X and said: “We monitor her case. It is important that the UK respect and protect the freedom of expression.”
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