Adam Smith-Connor, a father of two and a British Army veteran, was recently found guilty for illegally making a silent prayer inside of an abortion mill “buffer zone” two years ago.

Smith-Connor was interrogated for the “nature of his prayers” after he stopped to pray near an abortion mill, according to a press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom United Kingdom. He was told to pay prosecution costs of £9,000, the equivalent of more than $11,000, and has a conditional discharge, which means he will be sentenced if he commits more offenses.

“Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts, silent thoughts, can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right. All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind, and yet I stand convicted?” he remarked. “I served for twenty years in the Army reserves, including a tour in Afghanistan, to protect the fundamental freedoms that this country is built upon. I continue that spirit of service as a health care professional and church volunteer. It troubles me greatly to see our freedoms eroded to the extent that thoughtcrimes are now being prosecuted.”

Smith-Connor was indeed convicted this month after he merely prayed near the abortion mill, despite the fact that he “made every effort to be out of the line of sight of the abortion facility, positioned behind a tree with his back to the facility, and did not engage with any other person,” according to the press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom United Kingdom.

The court which convicted Smith-Connor said his prayer amounted to “disapproval of abortion” because his head was seen slightly bowed and his hands clasped at one point in the prayer.

Statutes opposed to free expression in Britain have led to several convictions in recent years, with many of those convictions relating to speech opposed to mass immigration, as well as claims consistent with historic Christian positions against abortion and other social degeneracy.