A court in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, has convicted retired pastor Clive Johnston of breaching abortion “safe access zone” rules after he delivered an open-air sermon near Causeway Hospital in July 2024. District Judge Peter King imposed a £450 fine and upheld two offences under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023.
A retired Northern Ireland pastor has been convicted of breaching “safe access zone” restrictions outside Causeway Hospital in Coleraine after leading an open-air religious service near abortion services provided at the site.
District Judge Peter King found Clive Johnston guilty at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on 7 May 2026, fining him £450. Johnston faced two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023: carrying out an act within a safe access zone with intent to influence—or being reckless as to whether it could influence—a “protected person” attending the premises, and failing to comply with a police direction to leave the zone.
The case arose from an event on 7 July 2024, when Johnston preached using a microphone and quoted Bible passages, including John 3:16. Johnston told the court he was not staging a protest and said the service made no reference to abortion.
Prosecutors argued that the location, context and presentation of the gathering meant the offence was made out under the legislation, which restricts certain behaviour within designated zones around premises providing abortion services.
After the ruling, Johnston called the conviction “a dark day for Christian freedom,” according to reporting by the Daily Wire and UK-based Christian advocacy group CARE.
