The Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, tasked with enforcing Smith-Connor’s penalty, refrained from pursuing prosecution within the statutory time-limit. This followed the police’s assessment that praying silently was not an offence in England and submissions by Adam’s legal team that the state had no power to restrict thoughts directed towards God.
Reflecting on the ordeal and the positive outcome for freedom of thought, Smith-Connor said: “Nobody should be criminalised for what they believe – especially not when they express that belief silently, in the privacy of their own minds. I’m glad that, in my case, common-sense policing won the day. However, it’s not right that I had to wait anxiously for a full six months for the authorities to determine my fate. The process, in essence, became my punishment.”