First arrest and prosecution for praying in public case collapses after bungled police investigation

The country’s first arrest and prosecution for praying in public has collapsed following a bungling police investigation.

Christian Hacking, 29, was arrested by police after he was seen praying outside an abortion clinic in London earlier this year.

Mr Hacking, who uses a wheelchair after breaking his back during a climbing accident, was arrested and carried into a van by police officers after allegedly failing to comply with a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Ealing, west London.

The international charity, which supports women to have safe abortions, have criticised his “wilful non-compliance with the PSPO” and said that “nobody should face harassment” when accessing their services.

However the Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which represented Mr Hacking, said that police bodycam footage of officers “carrying a disabled man and his wheelchair to a riot van, simply for praying, is deeply disturbing”. It also criticised the waste of “vital police resources” after charges against him were dropped.

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