A court has thrown out criminal charges against a 75-year-old grandmother for alleged "influencing" outside an abortion clinic.
Rose Docherty, who became the first to be prosecuted under Scotland's buffer zone legislation, had two charges dismissed by Sheriff Stuart Reid at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday morning.
The legislation, which came into force in September 2024, establishes 200-meter "safe access zones" around all abortion service providers, making it a criminal offence to protest, harass, or attempt to influence access to services.
The sheriff determined that the prosecution had "failed to disclose an offence known to the law of Scotland", and found the charges breached Mrs Docherty's Article 10 right to freedom of expression.
Although the case was dismissed, prosecutors are permitted to revive proceedings should they obtain stronger evidence and deem it in the public interest.
Mrs Docherty's legal team, coordinated by advocacy organisation ADF International, had argued the charges lacked sufficient clarity and were not properly prescribed by law.
The Christian grandmother was taken into custody last September near Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she had been holding a placard stating: "Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want".
According to her legal defence, she neither approached anyone nor discussed abortion, and her conduct was not obstructive, harassing or intimidating.
During proceedings on April 20, the court acknowledged proof of someone within the zone accessing, providing or facilitating abortion services was essential to establishing the offence.
When Sheriff Reid questioned whether any evidential basis existed to support the charge, the response was: "Not at the moment, but that might emerge after our further enquiries".
This marked Mrs Docherty's second arrest for similar activity, following an earlier detention in February 2025 that prosecutors subsequently dropped.
Speaking outside the court following the ruling, she said: "I was arrested, charged and prosecuted for nothing more than peacefully inviting consensual conversation in a public space that I was permitted to be in.
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"When I was arrested, I was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police van and placed in a police cell for over two hours, without a chair to sit on."
She added that despite having a double hip replacement, she was denied seating during her detention.
"Simply for being available for the lonely, the afraid and the coerced, I have been treated like a violent criminal," Mrs Docherty added.
The grandmother characterised the outcome as "a major victory for free speech in Scotland and the UK", arguing that buffer zone legislation "must be repealed" to prevent authorities from "targeting peaceful and lawful expression" in future.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, condemned the prosecution as having "no place in a free and democratic society", criticising the Crown Office for bringing charges "without conducting even the most basic investigative inquiries".
He called on Parliament to "act urgently to repeal these buffer zone laws", describing them as "poorly drafted, censorial, and undemocratic".
Mrs Docherty's arrest drew international attention, with the US State Department labelling it "another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe".
Scotland's buffer zone law mirrors similar English legislation under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023.
In England, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce also faces trial in October for silently praying near an abortion facility.
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A court has thrown out criminal charges against a 75-year-old grandmother for alleged "influencing" outside an abortion clinic.
Rose Docherty, who became the first to be prosecuted under Scotland's buffer zone legislation, had two charges dismissed by Sheriff Stuart Reid at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Monday morning.
The legislation, which came into force in September 2024, establishes 200-meter "safe access zones" around all abortion service providers, making it a criminal offence to protest, harass, or attempt to influence access to services.
The sheriff determined that the prosecution had "failed to disclose an offence known to the law of Scotland", and found the charges breached Mrs Docherty's Article 10 right to freedom of expression.
Although the case was dismissed, prosecutors are permitted to revive proceedings should they obtain stronger evidence and deem it in the public interest.
Mrs Docherty's legal team, coordinated by advocacy organisation ADF International, had argued the charges lacked sufficient clarity and were not properly prescribed by law.
The Christian grandmother was taken into custody last September near Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where she had been holding a placard stating: "Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want".
According to her legal defence, she neither approached anyone nor discussed abortion, and her conduct was not obstructive, harassing or intimidating.
During proceedings on April 20, the court acknowledged proof of someone within the zone accessing, providing or facilitating abortion services was essential to establishing the offence.
When Sheriff Reid questioned whether any evidential basis existed to support the charge, the response was: "Not at the moment, but that might emerge after our further enquiries".
This marked Mrs Docherty's second arrest for similar activity, following an earlier detention in February 2025 that prosecutors subsequently dropped.
Speaking outside the court following the ruling, she said: "I was arrested, charged and prosecuted for nothing more than peacefully inviting consensual conversation in a public space that I was permitted to be in.
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"When I was arrested, I was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police van and placed in a police cell for over two hours, without a chair to sit on."
She added that despite having a double hip replacement, she was denied seating during her detention.
"Simply for being available for the lonely, the afraid and the coerced, I have been treated like a violent criminal," Mrs Docherty added.
The grandmother characterised the outcome as "a major victory for free speech in Scotland and the UK", arguing that buffer zone legislation "must be repealed" to prevent authorities from "targeting peaceful and lawful expression" in future.
Jeremiah Igunnubole, barrister and legal counsel for ADF International, condemned the prosecution as having "no place in a free and democratic society", criticising the Crown Office for bringing charges "without conducting even the most basic investigative inquiries".
He called on Parliament to "act urgently to repeal these buffer zone laws", describing them as "poorly drafted, censorial, and undemocratic".
Mrs Docherty's arrest drew international attention, with the US State Department labelling it "another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe".
Scotland's buffer zone law mirrors similar English legislation under Section 9 of the Public Order Act 2023.
In England, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce also faces trial in October for silently praying near an abortion facility.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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