A retired pastor is being prosecuted in Northern Ireland under abortion buffer zone laws for an open-air sermon on God’s love for humanity, even though abortion was never mentioned.

76-year-old, Clive Johnston, a former President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, is facing two charges for holding a Sunday service on the fringes of a buffer zone on the other side of a dual carriageway from Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital on 7 July last year.

According to the Act, it is now a criminal offence for people to be “impeded, recorded, influenced or to be caused harassment, alarm or distress” within 100-150m of hospitals or clinics that offer abortions.

The Pastor spoke on John 3:16, a famous Bible verse that states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

Crucially, it is not alleged that he even mentioned abortion. Nor were there any abortion placards or banners.

If convicted, the grandfather of seven, who has never been in trouble with the police, faces a criminal record and maximum fines totalling thousands of pounds.