A Christian charitable volunteer who was arrested twice for praying silently in the vicinity of an abortion clinic has received a payout of £13,000 from UK Police in acknowledgement of her unjust treatment, and breach of human rights.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce issued a claim against West Midlands Police for two wrongful arrests and false imprisonments; assault and battery in relation to an intrusive search of her person; and for a breach of her human rights both in respect to the arrests, and to the onerous bail conditions imposed on her.

The news comes days after reports that Britain’s new Labour Government will intensify a crackdown on silent prayer near abortion facilities by expressly criminalising it in upcoming “buffer zones” legislation.

Commenting on the news of the settlement and payout from West Midlands Police, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce said: “Silent prayer is not a crime. Nobody should be arrested merely for the thoughts they have in their heads – yet this happened to me twice at the hands of the West Midlands Police, who explicitly told me that ‘prayer is an offence’.”

“There is no place for Orwell’s ‘thought police’ in 21st Century Britain,” she added.