Rose Docherty, the pro life grandmother persecuted for offering kindness to worried women, has won another famous victory. The Crown Office has backed down and refused to appeal the case of the Glaswegian Catholic grandmother, who was cleared in court after offering to speak with people in a “buffer zone.”
Rose Docherty, 75, was cleared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on April 27, when the judge dismissed two criminal charges of “influencing” against her, in the first ever victory under censorial national legislation introducing abortion facility “buffer zones” in the UK.
In a development that reinforces last month’s free speech victory, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scotland’s public prosecutor, has refused to appeal the ruling and is now timed out of doing so.
The 75-year-old Christian grandmother was arrested last September merely for offering to speak with people in the vicinity of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and holding a sign that read: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”, leading to outcry across the world, including from the U.S. State Department.
She did not approach anyone, did not speak about abortion, did not engage in any behavior that was obstructing, harassing or intimidating, and was not protesting.
Following her arrest, Mrs. Docherty was held in custody for several hours. She was refused a chair to sit on in her cell, despite making it known that she had had a double hip replacement.