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15/02/2007
Anti-abortion grandmother loses case
A Christian "pro-life" grandmother has failed in a High Court bid to overturn her conviction for sending pictures of aborted foetuses to pharmacists through the post.
Two senior judges ruled, Veronica Connelly, 50, had no right to cause distress to others who might see the pictures.
Mrs Connelly, a Roman Catholic from Shard End, Birmingham, sent pictures to chemists in Solihull and West Midlands, who sold the morning after pill.
Anti-abortionists say the case of Mrs Connelly raises fundamental questions over civil liberties.
Mrs Connelly, who uses a wheelchair and has ME, asked the High Court to quash her conviction on the grounds that it violated her rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression of her religion.
She was prosecuted under the 1988 Malicious Communications Act.
Lord Justice Dyson said: "Her right to express her views about abortion does not justify the distress and anxiety she intended those who received the photographs."
Mrs Connelly believes an unborn baby is a child of God, that abortion is a form of murder and that the morning-after pill is an impermissible form of abortion.
(CD)
Two senior judges ruled, Veronica Connelly, 50, had no right to cause distress to others who might see the pictures.
Mrs Connelly, a Roman Catholic from Shard End, Birmingham, sent pictures to chemists in Solihull and West Midlands, who sold the morning after pill.
Anti-abortionists say the case of Mrs Connelly raises fundamental questions over civil liberties.
Mrs Connelly, who uses a wheelchair and has ME, asked the High Court to quash her conviction on the grounds that it violated her rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression of her religion.
She was prosecuted under the 1988 Malicious Communications Act.
Lord Justice Dyson said: "Her right to express her views about abortion does not justify the distress and anxiety she intended those who received the photographs."
Mrs Connelly believes an unborn baby is a child of God, that abortion is a form of murder and that the morning-after pill is an impermissible form of abortion.
(CD)
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Couple Named In Baby P Case
The couple responsible for the death of Baby P have finally been named following the expiration of a court order which gave them anonymity. The boy's mother, Tracey Connelly, 28, and her partner, Steven Barker, 33, both of Haringey, north London, were found guilty of causing the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly and were jailed in May this year.
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