UK MassResistance activist David Skinner wins stunning court appeal of his criminal conviction for a pro-life email.
He endured three years of oppressive “lawfare” for his direct pro-life activism.
Everything was pitted against him by British court system. But he and his supporters refused to give up.
Mainstream pro-lifers should follow his bold example.
May 4, 2026
David Skinner (center) with his lawyer Michael Phillips (left) and assistant outside of the courthouse after his well deserved victory.David Skinner is 81 years old, but he is one of the most fearless and effective pro-family (and MassResistance) activists anywhere.
Britain has become one of the most brutal anti-family and anti-free speech regimes in the West. When it comes to the basic constitutional rights of citizens, police protection and the criminal justice systems have largely collapsed. So David’s court victory has been celebrated in pro-family media across the UK.
A UK MassResistance leader
In 2017, David took charge of our new UK MassResistance chapter. He already had scores of pro-family contacts across Britain. That year, Brian Camenker of MassResistance spent a week in the UK working with David to help organize.
Brian Camenker (2nd from right) with David (2nd from left) with other UK MassResistance leaders of UK MassResistance in Bournemouth in 2017.
Standing outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London, David and Brian Camenker with a UK MassResistance sign.From his home base in Bournemouth, David and the others directly confronted the LGBT agenda that was ravaging the country.
Holding up descriptive sign at Bournemouth Gay Pride Parade!
David tells the truth to two LGBT activists at the London Gay Pride parade.Taking on the aggressive abortion agenda in his city
In October 2022, the Bournemouth City Council implemented a massive buffer zone, officially called a "safe zone." It is approximately 1600 x 800 feet around the city’s abortion clinic. It includes streets, sidewalks, and over a hundred private homes. Within that area, the city ordinance prohibits “any act of approval/disapproval with respect to issues related to abortion services.” Thus, the residents who live in this Orwellian-sounding "safe" zone live in a virtual ghetto where their free speech rights have been suspended - even in their homes and yards.
The map of the "safe zone" where speech is restricted. There are over a hundred residences within that area.
One of the "Safe Zone" signs at the abortion clinic buffer zone.One activist, Adam Smith-Connor, was arrested and fined for silently praying against abortion within the buffer zone. Another activist, Livia Tossici-Bolt, was convicted and fined $26,000 for simply holding a sign that said, “Here to talk, if you want.” And many others were harassed by police for just being there.
But David Skinner was fearless and stood up to the police. And they eventually backed down.
A few months after Adam Smith-Connor’s arrest, David was standing in front of the abortion clinic taking photos of friends who were also there. A police officer began harassing and threatening him. He took David's camera (which he later got back). But David stood his ground.
He then filed a complaint against the officers.
Police officers confronting David as he's standing near the abortion clinic within the huge 'safe zone.' David didn't back down, and the police finally left him alone.Apology from the police. A few days later, the Police Inspector, Fern Graham, contacted David and apologized for the incident! She said David should contact her if he had any other concerns.
The email that erupted into a criminal conviction
As David thought about it, he realized that there’s definitely another concern, besides that incident, that needs to be addressed. The “elephant in the room” is the fact that grisly abortions are happening in that building.
David carefully prepared a three-page letter. He noted the brutal killings of babies taking place in the Bournemouth abortion clinic. He included gruesome photos of aborted babies. He urged the police department to investigate these murders.
On April 28, 2023, David emailed the letter to the Police Inspector. He also emailed copies the local Police and Crime Commissioner, the Chief Constable, and the Bournemouth City Council members. The subject line of the emails was: “Reporting Mass Murder in Ophir Road” (i.e., the road in Bournemouth where the abortion clinic is located).
The “lawfare” erupts against David
The following week, on May 3, a police sergeant showed up at David’s home. He was told his email had “offended” someone, caused “distress,” and had likely violated various laws. He was told to come to the police station with his lawyer. On May 9, David went to the police station with a well-known Christian attorney, Michael Phillips. David was interrogated for an hour, but under his attorney’s advice did not answer any of the questions.
Six months passed, and David heard nothing.
Then in November 2023 David received a court summons. He was being charged with violating the Malicious Communications Act of 1988. On January 26, 2024 David appeared in court and pled not guilty.
The people who filed the charges against David were two women who had opened his emails. One was the Police Inspector, Fern Graham. The other was Yvonne Fennick, who worked for the Police and Crime Commissioner and had opened David’s email - even though it was sent to the Commissioner personally. These two women are both police professionals, yet claimed that the photos caused them severe emotional distress.
Interestingly, none of the other officials who received David’s email complained. The Police and Crime Commissioner, when he was shown the email a year later on January 28, 2024, did not say the email was offensive, but simply commented that David obviously “wants the law to be changed.”
“The process itself is punishment.”
Between January 2024 and May 2025 the “malicious communications” charge was dropped, because, as David's lawyer said, they could find no malicious intent that led to real harm, and the police came up with a new charge: violating the Electronic Communications Act of 2003. That statute prohibits “persistently making use of a public communications network for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another person.” (This was strange, because David’s communication wasn’t “persistent.” He emailed the letter to everyone just once.)
There were at least eight pre-trial hearings and a scheduled trial that was canceled the during day it was supposed to take place.
Usually David and his attorney would have to sit in the court for nearly the entire day before being granted a 10-minute hearing. Or it would be cancelled altogether. And the judges were invariably quite hostile.
The trial was scheduled to take place in October 2024. That day, friends of David traveled from across Britain to be with him. They waited in court all day, then late in the afternoon were told there had been too many cases and there wasn’t time for his trial. The judge also felt he wasn't qualified to try this case! So it would have to be rescheduled.
The endless hearing dates, long waits, cancellations, and generally hostile behavior seemed unnecessarily grueling for David, his wife, their friends, and his attorney. As David said to us several times, the process is the punishment.
At one pre-trial hearing, in November 2024, the judge arbitrarily ruled not to allow David’s expert witnesses, a doctor and a theology expert (both of whom would discuss the subject of abortion), to be included in the upcoming trial.
At another pre-trial hearing in March 2025, David sat in court for hours while his lawyer argued for the judge (who had a history of hostile rulings toward Christian activists) to recuse herself. She refused. But ultimately a different judge (even more hostile) presided at David's trial.
David later told us, "After that hearing, my attorney told me that for the judge and my accusers it was personal and ideological, and that they had made up their minds to convict me."
The trial and conviction
On May 1, 2025, the trial finally took place. It was a nightmare. David’s lawyer could not be there that day, so another prominent Christian lawyer, Roger Kiska - an internationally recognized expert on human rights laws who flew in from Slovakia specifically for that trial - took his place.
David Skinner (in tan sportcoar) with his wife and supporters from across Britain on May 1 outside the courthouse before the trial.The trial was supposed to start at 10:00 am, but didn’t begin until late afternoon. The judge was extremely hostile, was very rude to David and his lawyer, and refused to even look at any of David’s supporting documents. The judge openly suggested that David’s purpose had been to cause harm. During the trial, the two women said that David’s mere presence in the courtroom was threatening to them. Yvonne Fenwick was allowed to hide behind a screen, since she was frightened. At one stage she started crying and was handed a box of Kleenex tissues. "I was treated as a terrorist," David said. He wasn’t allowed to testify in his own defense. It was shocking.
The trial lasted just an hour and a half. Then the judge found David guilty. He was fined £3,840 (equal to about $5,200). This includes a £675 fine for each of the two “offenses” against the women, £500 to be paid as compensation to each of the women, plus £950 in court costs and £540 for administration charges.
It was feared that it might even be worse. The prosecution had been seeking a two-year prison sentence, so David had brought a packed a suitcase to the trial!
The successful appeal
David was still not giving up.
In October 2025, David went to the local appellate court to request an appeal date to overturn his conviction. The dates they gave him were April 23 and 24, 2026.
This time, there were no changes or re-scheduling.
At the April 23, 2026 appeal trial, the judge, Pushpinder Saini, a highly qualified High Court Judge and a Sikh (complete with black turban), was refreshingly rational and even-handed. David was allowed to testify on his own behalf. He was in the witness box for two hours answering questions. Michael Phillips skillfully guided David’s testimony regarding the photos that were included, as well as the background and intent of the email.
The opportunity for David to testify obviously made a huge difference in refuting the Crown’s arguments against him.
The following day, April 24, the judge presented his ruling in an 11-page document. David’s conviction was overturned! It was a stunning victory.
The judge’s ruling included several key points:
- “This is a case about freedom of expression and freedom of religion,” the judge said.
Parts of David’s letter may have been technically in violation of the law. David even admitted that the images were “grossly offensive.” But, as the judge pointed out, that is superseded by David’s right to make a legitimate argument on current political topic before public officials, which is protected in British law. David felt those images were necessary to make his point.
“We recognise the power of the image to carry a message in its most persuasive form,” the judge added. “Great caution is required before a state can restrict the expression of political standpoints.”
The fact that David is an experienced Christian activist, not just an angry person with a grudge against particular officials, further supported that position. - The judge emphasized that the recipients of the email were public officials, including “an elected Police and Crime Commissioner and a senior police inspector, who are therefore subject to a higher threshold of tolerance than private individuals.” It’s refreshing that the judge understood this and weighed it in his decision.
- The judge also noted that David’s communications were not “persistent,” as the statute requires. It was just one email.
David Skinner is a special fellow. Even at 81 years old, he boldly sticks with his principles, takes on the hard battles, and does not give up. He tells the truth in a country where the truth can put you in prison!
Compare this with the pathetic state of the mainstream pro-life movement in the U.S. They are perpetually afraid of offending anyone. They water down their message to be “nice” rather than aggressively telling the uncomfortable and distasteful truth. They would never present the actual gory photos in their message to the public officials who are part of the problem.
It’s embarrassing to suggest, but can Americans learn some lessons on “revolution” from these British?
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