A 78-year-old retired pastor from County Tyrone has been fined for breaching abortion buffer zone laws after preaching bible verses near Causeway Hospital in Northern Ireland.
Clive Johnston, who previously served as President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, received a £450 fine at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court today for two offences related to the incident.
The court found him guilty of acting within a safe access zone in a manner that could influence a protected person, as well as refusing to leave the area when directed.
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Johnston described the ruling as “a very dark day for Christian freedom.”
“At 78 years I find myself for the first time convicted of a crime,” he said.
The incident occurred on July 7 2024 when Mr Johnston held a brief Sunday service within the designated safe access zone surrounding the hospital.
During the sermon, he preached from the biblical verse John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The court heard that Mr Johnston made no direct reference to abortion during his preaching.
Clive Johnston called the verdict a ‘dark day for Christian freedom’
|
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE
Judge Peter King stated that Mr Johnston had “tested the law to the point where he broke the law.”
The judge acknowledged Mr Johnston as “a man of strong religious belief and good character” who had previously been publicly associated with anti-abortion views.
He noted that Mr Johnston knowingly positioned himself within the restricted zone without verifying whether abortion services were operating that day.
The safe access zone legislation was passed at Stormont in 2022 and came into force across Northern Ireland the following year.
Clive Johnston has been fined £450 for the breaches
|
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTEThese laws prohibit anti-abortion demonstrations from taking place immediately outside healthcare facilities where abortions are performed.
The court was informed that Johnston’s decision to preach was driven by two purposes: to challenge the legislation and to share the Christian message with anyone listening.
Evidence presented during the case confirmed that at least one protected person was receiving therapeutic aftercare through the Northern Trust’s abortion service on the day of the incident.
Judge King declined a request to refer the matter to the court of appeal, noting that Mr Johnston had deliberately entered the zone while aware he risked breaking the law.
Outside the courthouse, Mr Johnston argued that the buffer zone legislation was excessively broad, resulting in a Sunday service being treated as a criminal act.
“And yet the buffer zone legislation is so broad that holding a Sunday service has been found to be a criminal offence,” he said.
He maintained that his open-air service had been “short and brief” with no mention of abortion whatsoever.
“If there was ever a time when those near a hospital or far from a hospital needed to hear that message of hope, today is the day, and today in this court, this was criminalised,” Mr Johnston added. “May this not be the end of the story.”
Ciarán Kelly from The Christian Institute, which has supported Mr Johnston throughout the case, called the conviction “disappointing” and warned it would represent “a shocking restriction on religious liberty, on freedom of speech” if upheld.
“We will be working with Clive and his legal team in coming days to consider options for appeal,” he said.