Ealing Council became the first in the country to create a protest-free “buffer zone” outside a Marie Stopes clinic in April 2018 following demonstrations.

The council imposed the public spaces protection order (PSPO) following reports of “intimidation, harassment and distress” for women using the facility in Mattock Lane.

Christian mother, 35-year-old Alina Dulgheriu, and Andrea Orthova, who regularly attend a vigil run by the Good Counsel Network (GCN), mounted a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn the ban on protests directly outside the clinic.

At a hearing in London in July, their lawyers argued the ban interferes with their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief and freedom of assembly and association.

They also said the council was wrong to use a PSPO because the orders were designed to protect local residents from anti-social behaviour, and clinic users were “one-off or occasional” visitors to the area.

The Master of the Rolls Sir Terence Etherton and two other senior judges will give their decision on the case on Wednesday.

Lawyers for the two women previously told the court the PSPO “criminalises acts of prayer” and said it was the “first time since the reign of Elizabeth I that public prayer has been subject to potential criminal sanction”.

Their barrister Philip…

Mary Cavner, 80, won her fight for justice after an eight year legal battle over the time she spent at one of the notorious Magdalene laundries.

The mother-of-five spent years trying to convince the state that she worked at the Good Shepherd Convent in Co Cork, which was run by Catholic nuns, from the age of 11 after her father’s death.

The Irish Government formally apologised to all of the women confined to the institutions in 2013 and set up a redress scheme for the victims.

But Mary, who now lives in Hants, England was denied compensation after the Irish authorities claimed she was at St Finbarr’s Industrial School which was not listed as part of this scheme.

Mary was among a number of women who complained to the Irish Ombudsman.

A report in November 2017 recommended that the scheme be extended to associated and adjoining institutions, which the Irish Government adopted.

Mary’s daughter Mandie claimed that the government produced attendance records for her at a Catholic school despite not having a single day at school after entering the laundry.

The Ombudsman ruled that Mary is eligible for the redress scheme and awarded her a five figure settlement.

Mandie said: “My mum didn’t have a single day of education when she was in the laundry, but we were sent records that showed she had been at school every day for years. She worked from the moment she entered the…

There have been 445 crimes recorded as criminal damage to religious buildings, churchyards or cemeteries across the last three years.

This is equivalent to a crime against a place of worship happening almost every other day.

Some of those attacked included Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church which suffered two arson attacks in July 2016, while the Sacred Heart Church in Ballyclare was attacked with paint on Easter Sunday this year.

Both the Belfast Synagogue and Belfast Islamic Centre have also suffered property damage in the last 10 years.

The figures were obtained from the PSNI by the Christian Access Research and Education (Care NI) using the Freedom of Information Act.

Care NI has written to the leaders of all the political parties asking for more support to be made available to religious buildings.

It has also urged them to make a specific manifesto commitment to set up an initiative like the Place Of Worship fund which helps protect religious buildings in England and Wales.

Dr Alistair McCracken, clerk of Session, Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church said they would support any Government measures to protect churches.

“Following two arson attacks on our church in July 2016 the initial response was one of anger and frustration quickly followed by asking ‘Why’,” he said.

“There then came a sort of grieving period as we grappled with the practicalities of how to…