Livia Tossici-Bolt: UK

Convicted for offering a consensual conversation

Topic | Freedom of Speech

Dr. Livia Tossici-Bolt, 64, was convicted on April 4th 2025 for offering consensual conversation in a “buffer zone” nearby an abortion facility in Bournemouth, England. The judge sentenced Livia to a conditional discharge and ordered her to pay prosecution costs of £20,000 which must be paid in full by 31 May 2025.

The retired medical scientist, originally from Italy, had held a sign reading “here to talk, if you want to” near the facility. While she held the sign, several individuals approached Livia to discuss a variety of issues they were facing in their lives.

Livia was prosecuted for breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which installed a “buffer zone” around the abortion facility, prohibiting “harassment,” “intimidation,” and “engaging in an act of approval or disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services”. Despite finding as a fact that “the sign made no reference to pregnancy, abortion, or religious matters” and hearing evidence from one council officer that “he did not witness her intimidating or harassing any individual”, the judge ruled that council officers had a reasonable belief that she was in violation of the PSPO.

ADF UK continues to support her legal defence.

“There’s nothing wrong with offering to speak to people in need. There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this.”

- Livia Tossici-Bolt

Case Summary

Livia’s motivation to go out on the street with a sign offering conversation followed the lockdown period where social interaction was restricted. She saw trends at the time of people offering “free hugs” and other types of engagement on the street, and the idea for her sign was born.

Livia has had countless positive interactions with various groups of people who have stopped to talk with her about issues that are important to them—including students who spoke to her about their studies and parents who spoke about their children.

It is Livia’s belief that every life matters. She is happy to take the time to talk to anyone in a difficult situation, including those facing an abortion. She firmly believes too that one must never intimidate, harass, or condemn. But everyone is free to offer a listening ear and be present for those in need.

As a result, however, she was criminally prosecuted for breaching the “buffer zone” around an abortion facility in Bournemouth. The zone prohibits any act of approval or disapproval regarding abortion. All she did was exercise her right to offer a conversation, which anyone was free to accept or reject. Consensual conversation can never be a crime in the UK.

Officers admit they did not “personally witness” any “harassment”

Taking the witness stand at her trial, Officer Rukan Taki, who is employed by Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council and attended the incident leading to Livia’s fine, conceded that despite his belief that Livia’s behaviour constituted a breach of the zone, he did not actually “personally witness” her engage in harassment or intimidation. He also confirmed that being “open to speaking to someone” did not amount to harassment or intimidation.

The officers and further witnesses from the Council further stated that they had no recollection of any reports being made from members of the public that they had been victims of harassment due to Livia’s presence.

US State Department “concerned about freedom of expression in the UK”

On March 30, 2025 the United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor (DRL) issued a statement on the case: “We are concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom… We are monitoring [Tossici-Bolt’s] case.”

Guilty verdict

Livia‘s guilty verdict was handed down on April 4th 2025 at Poole Magistrates’ Court.

The District Judge who gave that verdict is the same judge who in October 2024 October found Adam Smith-Connor guilty for silently praying in a “buffer zone”, in a case which US Vice President JD Vance directly highlighted in his Munich Security Conference speech.

"Buffer zones" have a censorious effect on free speech

PSPO “buffer zones” have been widely criticised by free speech campaigners, as well as politicians, for their censorious effects on free speech, thought, and religious liberty. Defenders of “buffer zones” often say they are intended to prevent harassment—but harassment is already a crime, making the existence of “buffer zones” unnecessary and malign.

Five local councils introduced a “buffer zone” around their local abortion facility under the “PSPO” mechanism. In 2023, the UK government passed legislation in the Public Order Act to roll outcensorial buffer zones around all abortion facilities across the country, banning any form of “influence”.

Reacting to Livia’s case, senior Tory MP and former minister Sir Edward Leigh said:

“Freedom of thought and freedom of speech are the bedrock of a free society. It’s mad that a retiree is facing trial for inviting people to have a harmless chat. No one should be turned into a criminal just for peacefully offering to talk to people in a public space.”